Good morning, class. Today we're going to discuss the history of the bicycle. You might think it's a simple invention, but its development took over a century. The first two-wheeled vehicle, called the 'draisine', appeared in 1817. It had no pedals; riders pushed their feet against the ground. In the 1860s, pedals were added to the front wheel, creating the 'velocipede'. However, this design was uncomfortable and hard to control. The breakthrough came in 1885 when John Kemp Starley introduced the 'safety bicycle' with a chain drive and two equal-sized wheels. This design became the basis for modern bicycles. Interestingly, the pneumatic tire, invented in 1888 by John Boyd Dunlop, was initially intended for bicycles, not cars.