雅思听力

🎧 Listening Transcript

Today we're going to discuss the history of the bicycle. Although many people credit Karl von Drais with inventing the first bicycle in 1817, it was actually a Frenchman named Pierre Michaux who added pedals to the front wheel in the 1860s. This design, called the velocipede, was difficult to ride because of its heavy wooden frame. Later, in the 1880s, John Kemp Starley introduced the 'safety bicycle' with a chain drive and two equal-sized wheels, which made cycling much safer and more popular. Interestingly, the pneumatic tire, invented by John Boyd Dunlop in 1888, was originally developed for his son's tricycle, not for bicycles.