05 July 2011

Kirkpatrick MacMillan

Did you know who is thought to have invented the bicycle?


I hadn't looked into it until I ran across this story (see above photo) in BBC History Magazine's September 2010 issue, which unfortunately isn't online. However, the BBC have posted Kirkpatrick MacMillan's biography (with the same images used in the magazine) and a photo of the replica of his bicycle, and there's also the usual wiki pages and squidoo lenses on the guy. The best article I've seen about him is "The Devil On Wheels" by Norrie McLeish.

Lucky me, I just added this postcard to my collection via eBay:


What can I say, I'm a sucker for a story about an earth-changing innovation that doesn't make its inventor wealthy. If Kirkpatrick MacMillan had patented his idea in 1839, would it have spread as widely?

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