Pierre Lallement facts for kids
Pierre Lallement (born October 25, 1843 – died August 29, 1891) is thought by some people to be the inventor of the pedal bicycle. He was a French inventor who made important changes to early bicycles.
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Early Life and Bicycle Ideas
Pierre Lallement was born on October 25, 1843, in Pont-à-Mousson, a town near Nancy, France.
In 1862, Lallement was working in Nancy, building baby carriages. One day, he saw someone riding a "dandy horse." This was an early type of bicycle that didn't have pedals. Riders had to push it along with their feet on the ground, like walking while sitting.
Lallement had a clever idea! He decided to add a special system to the dandy horse. He put a spinning crank and pedals onto the front wheel. This meant riders could use their feet to turn the wheel and make the bike move without touching the ground. This was a big step in creating the first real bicycle.
In 1863, he moved to Paris. There, he met the Olivier brothers. They saw that his invention could be very popular. The Oliviers teamed up with Pierre Michaux to start making these two-wheeled bikes in large numbers. These early bikes were made of iron and were quite bumpy to ride. People even called them "boneshakers" because of how much they rattled!
Pierre Lallement once tested his new bike on a bumpy road. He was going downhill when he realized his bike had no brakes! He almost crashed into a horse-drawn wagon. He yelled a warning, then swerved and tumbled into a ditch filled with water. He hit his head, but he was okay. The men in the wagon were so scared, they thought he was some kind of monster! Lallement later found them telling the story in a tavern and surprised them by saying, "I was the Devil!" He was just joking, of course.
Moving to America
Lallement left France in July 1865 and moved to the United States. He settled in Ansonia, Connecticut. There, he built an even better version of his bicycle. With help from a man named James Carroll, he applied for the first and only American patent for the pedal-bicycle in April 1866. He was given the patent on November 20, 1866. His patent drawing showed a bike that looked a lot like the dandy horse, but with his new pedals and a spring under the saddle for a smoother ride.
Lallement tried to get American companies interested in making his bike, but he couldn't find anyone. So, he went back to Paris in 1868. This was just when Michaux's bikes were becoming super popular in France, starting the first "bicycle craze." This excitement soon spread across Europe and to America.
Lallement returned to America before 1880. He even helped in a court case about bicycle patents. At that time, he was living in Brooklyn and working for the Pope Manufacturing Company, a big bicycle maker. He passed away quietly in 1891 in Boston when he was 47 years old.
Remembering Lallement
Many years later, people started to give Pierre Lallement the credit he deserved.
In 1993, a historian named David V. Herlihy showed proof that Lallement was indeed the one who added pedals to the dandy horse.
Today, a bike path in Boston, Massachusetts, is named the Pierre Lallement Bike Path. It's about three and a half miles long and goes through a park. It even passes close to where Lallement lived and died.
In 1998, a special monument was put up in New Haven, Connecticut, to honor Lallement. It's located on the New Haven Green.
In 2005, Pierre Lallement was honored by being added to the United States Bicycling Hall of Fame. This means he is recognized as a very important person in the history of bicycling.
See also
Images for kids
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In Spanish: Pierre Lallement para niños
