The draisine, also called the dandy horse or laufmaschine, is a two-wheeled steerable running machine that German inventor Karl Drais introduced in 1817, propelled by the rider pushing along the ground with their feet rather than pedaling. It had no pedals, chain or brakes, but its steerable front wheel and shared balance principle made it the direct ancestor of the modern bicycle, and Drais is widely credited as the inventor of personal mechanized road transport as a result.
Facts
SignificanceRegarded as the first bicycle, the first two-wheeled vehicle. 1 Manufacturer or Builder FAQs
Is a draisine the same thing as the rail vehicle of that name?
The name passed from Drais running machine to a small rail inspection vehicle.
Not exactly. The name comes from the German inventor Karl Drais and his two-wheeled running machine of 1817. Today the word also names a small rail vehicle originally designed for the inspection and maintenance of railway tracks.
Sources
1. Dandy horse, Wikipedia
Lead, sentence 2 (invention)
It was invented by Karl Drais, who called it a Laufmaschine...in 1817, and patented by him in France in February 1818.
Lead, sentence 2 (inventor)
invented by Karl Drais
Lead, sentence 1 (definition)
is a human-powered vehicle that, as the first two-wheeled vehicle, is regarded as the first bicycle.
In Group: Historic Bicycles and Velocipedes, Lead sentence
The dandy horse, an English nickname for what was first called a Laufmaschine ('running machine' in German), then a vélocipède or draisienne (in French and then English), and then a pedestrian curricle or hobby-horse, or swiftwalker, is a human-powered vehicle that, as the first two-wheeled vehicle, is regarded as the first bicy
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