雅思听力

🎧 Listening Transcript

In today's lecture, we'll discuss the history of the bicycle. Although many assume it was invented in the 19th century, early prototypes appeared in the 18th century. The first two-wheeled vehicle, called the 'celerifere', was invented in France in 1790, but it had no steering or pedals. Later, in 1817, a German inventor added a steering mechanism, creating the 'draisine'. However, it wasn't until the 1860s that pedals were attached to the front wheel in France. Interestingly, the modern safety bicycle, with two equal-sized wheels and a chain drive, emerged in the 1880s in England, which made cycling much safer and more popular.