October 10, 2024 • 8 mins
Join us on Daily Sports History as we explore the fascinating history of the bicycle, from its early beginnings to its rise as a global phenomenon. Discover the groundbreaking innovation of Isaac Johnson, the African American inventor who patented a revolutionary bicycle frame design in the 1890s, changing the way bicycles were built forever. Learn how this invention shaped the future of cycling.
Check out Buzzalong Cycling Podcast
https://www.buzzalong.cc/podcast
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
On October tenth, eighteen ninety nine, Isaac Johnson was granted
a patent on his bicycle frame, changing the bicycle to
a more modern bicycle that we know today, making bicycling
even easier, growing as a transportation and a sport, changing
the world forever. And all this was done despite the
(00:22):
fact that Jonathan Isaac was being persecuted against at the
time as he was a black man in America. And
we're going to dive into the history of the bike
on Daily Sports History. Welcome to Daily Sports History. I'm
Ethan Reese, your guide as you daily learn more about
(00:46):
sports history, increasing your sports knowledge. And today's trivia question
to listen out for is who were Buffalo Soldiers? Now,
we first talked about bicycles all the way back in
our second episode when in eighteen eighty six Thomas Stevens
rode a bicycle across the world and he had to
(01:06):
do so on a Pennyweather bicycle. Now, if you haven't
listened to that episode, that's now. That bicycle is one
of those old school bicycles with the giant wheel in front,
in the little wheel and back as that was the
most popular bicycle at the time. As in the history
of bikes actually goes back to the seventeen hundreds. In
seventeen ninety they invent a two wheeled vehicle with a
(01:29):
seat in the middle, but there was no steering, but
it looks like the basic of a bicycle. And a
few years later, in eighteen seventeen, Carl Duras invents something
with a steerable component, being what is widely thought of
it as the first bike, but it also has no pedals.
The pedal system wasn't invented until eighteen thirty nine, and
(01:53):
this invention actually used a small wheel in front and
a big wheel and back, but this was still done
manually with your feet, and pedals weren't actually added until
eighteen fifty eight. Then, in eighteen sixty six a British
engineer invented the Penny feathering bike which we know today,
(02:13):
which is that big wheeled bike and a small tire
at the front. Now, interestingly enough, this does not have
a chain system. You're mainly just pedaling that big wheel
to help you move. Then in eighteen sixty eight, the
first rubberized wheel was invented. In the following decade, the
first unicycle was invented using the penny wise method, which
(02:35):
is only one wheel and a seat on top. Then
in eighteen seventy six they evitted the first caliber brake,
which is one of those brakes that holds onto the
wheel to break it like we see today. And in
eighteen seventy nine the first real wheel chain system was invented,
and in eighteen eighty nine the back pedal brake was
(02:57):
invented that we see often on children's bike to this day.
And there had been other small advances, but those were
the advances up until eighteen ninety nine when Isaac Johnson
put together his frame which is what we know today
as a bicycle. And in the nineteenth century there was
actually several African American inventors with significant roles involving the
cycling industries. As you can see, there was many different
(03:20):
iterations and there were some I didn't even go into
of how the bicycle slowly evolved to what it is today,
and that was all in the eight mostly in the
eighteen hundreds and after the Silvil War, the United States
military formed several all black infantries commonly known as Buffalo soldiers,
who would actually ride bicycles across the country instead of
(03:42):
riding horses. And there was actually an all black infantry
known as the twenty fifth Industry Bicycle Corp. That was
tasked to ride from Montana to Missouri on a bicycle,
which is nineteen hundred miles and it took them forty
one days, showing the human strength and resolve to get
through these treacherous conditions which included the rocky mountains and
(04:06):
there was zero road at the time. And these were
not mountain bikes, these were just basic And Isaac Johnson
continued the African American contribution to the bicycle when he
patented the folding bicycle, which was the first to have
the recognizable diamond or triangle shaped frame that we have
on our bicycles today, which has the bar that goes
(04:28):
between your legs connecting the front and to the back,
and the two bars that go below connecting to the pedals,
which is what we commonly see today now. He had
some additions to include folding because he grew up in
New York in the city where you needed to be
able to store a bike, and if you had one
of those big pennyfeather bikes with a huge wheel, where
(04:48):
were you going to put that? Even a small apartment,
you needed someplace to compactly put your bike, and that's
why he created it out of necessity, and he really
changed the game. And his version of the bicycle is
basically what we have today with a few minor tweaks,
and the folding part really not used. But there are
folding bicycles today which are mainly used for the same
(05:11):
reason for small spaces in storage. So he really changed
the game of bicycles. And we actually don't know very
much more about him, as the only really documentation we
have from him is what he put on his application
for his patent. So he changed the game and something
we have all used our entire lives, but many of
(05:32):
us never heard of him, and his recognition is very limited.
And it goes to show you that even if you
make a small contribution, you can change the world that
you may not even know about. And over the next
century or so, the bicycle hasn't changed very much, at
least the bicycle frame. It's gotten better material and more aerodynamic.
(05:52):
The gear system was invented to make it easier to
ride for longer distances, and it's been more customizable whether
you're doing mountain biking, cycling for speed, or if you're
just daily riding and you need a basket in front
to get your daily groceries from the store. There have
been so many iterations of the bicycle. It has become
a sport where we try to check our speed and
(06:13):
endurance and also something that is thought of as a
toy that kids get early in their lives to learn
how to ride and is used as a symbol of freedom.
Although it is made less popular by the invention of
the automobile, it is still around to this day and
so a great way of transportation and exercise, and part
(06:33):
of that is due to Isaac Johnson's patent of the
bicycle frame that we know today. And if you want
to learn more about getting into cycling, check out the
buzz Along Cycling podcast where host Sherry takes you through
all you need to know about getting into cycling and
ultracycling so that you can have the best experiences in
(06:56):
up your cycling game. And if you enjoyed this episode,
please send it to a friend let them know about
all the sports history you're learning about. Because one of
the best ways for us to grow is word of mouth,
and if you vouch for us, we'll keep growing. And
giving you more daily sports history and the answer to
(07:18):
today's trivia question, who were Buffalo Soldiers. Buffalo Soldiers were
all black bicycle infantries that were created after the Civil
War to traverse the country.
On October tenth, eighteen ninety nine, Isaac Johnson was granted
a patent on his bicycle frame, changing the bicycle to
a more modern bicycle that we know today, making bicycling
even easier, growing as a transportation and a sport, changing
the world forever. And all this was done despite the
(00:22):
fact that Jonathan Isaac was being persecuted against at the
time as he was a black man in America. And
we're going to dive into the history of the bike
on Daily Sports History. Welcome to Daily Sports History. I'm
Ethan Reese, your guide as you daily learn more about
(00:46):
sports history, increasing your sports knowledge. And today's trivia question
to listen out for is who were Buffalo Soldiers? Now,
we first talked about bicycles all the way back in
our second episode when in eighteen eighty six Thomas Stevens
rode a bicycle across the world and he had to
(01:06):
do so on a Pennyweather bicycle. Now, if you haven't
listened to that episode, that's now. That bicycle is one
of those old school bicycles with the giant wheel in front,
in the little wheel and back as that was the
most popular bicycle at the time. As in the history
of bikes actually goes back to the seventeen hundreds. In
seventeen ninety they invent a two wheeled vehicle with a
(01:29):
seat in the middle, but there was no steering, but
it looks like the basic of a bicycle. And a
few years later, in eighteen seventeen, Carl Duras invents something
with a steerable component, being what is widely thought of
it as the first bike, but it also has no pedals.
The pedal system wasn't invented until eighteen thirty nine, and
(01:53):
this invention actually used a small wheel in front and
a big wheel and back, but this was still done
manually with your feet, and pedals weren't actually added until
eighteen fifty eight. Then, in eighteen sixty six a British
engineer invented the Penny feathering bike which we know today,
(02:13):
which is that big wheeled bike and a small tire
at the front. Now, interestingly enough, this does not have
a chain system. You're mainly just pedaling that big wheel
to help you move. Then in eighteen sixty eight, the
first rubberized wheel was invented. In the following decade, the
first unicycle was invented using the penny wise method, which
(02:35):
is only one wheel and a seat on top. Then
in eighteen seventy six they evitted the first caliber brake,
which is one of those brakes that holds onto the
wheel to break it like we see today. And in
eighteen seventy nine the first real wheel chain system was invented,
and in eighteen eighty nine the back pedal brake was
(02:57):
invented that we see often on children's bike to this day.
And there had been other small advances, but those were
the advances up until eighteen ninety nine when Isaac Johnson
put together his frame which is what we know today
as a bicycle. And in the nineteenth century there was
actually several African American inventors with significant roles involving the
cycling industries. As you can see, there was many different
(03:20):
iterations and there were some I didn't even go into
of how the bicycle slowly evolved to what it is today,
and that was all in the eight mostly in the
eighteen hundreds and after the Silvil War, the United States
military formed several all black infantries commonly known as Buffalo soldiers,
who would actually ride bicycles across the country instead of
(03:42):
riding horses. And there was actually an all black infantry
known as the twenty fifth Industry Bicycle Corp. That was
tasked to ride from Montana to Missouri on a bicycle,
which is nineteen hundred miles and it took them forty
one days, showing the human strength and resolve to get
through these treacherous conditions which included the rocky mountains and
(04:06):
there was zero road at the time. And these were
not mountain bikes, these were just basic And Isaac Johnson
continued the African American contribution to the bicycle when he
patented the folding bicycle, which was the first to have
the recognizable diamond or triangle shaped frame that we have
on our bicycles today, which has the bar that goes
(04:28):
between your legs connecting the front and to the back,
and the two bars that go below connecting to the pedals,
which is what we commonly see today now. He had
some additions to include folding because he grew up in
New York in the city where you needed to be
able to store a bike, and if you had one
of those big pennyfeather bikes with a huge wheel, where
(04:48):
were you going to put that? Even a small apartment,
you needed someplace to compactly put your bike, and that's
why he created it out of necessity, and he really
changed the game. And his version of the bicycle is
basically what we have today with a few minor tweaks,
and the folding part really not used. But there are
folding bicycles today which are mainly used for the same
(05:11):
reason for small spaces in storage. So he really changed
the game of bicycles. And we actually don't know very
much more about him, as the only really documentation we
have from him is what he put on his application
for his patent. So he changed the game and something
we have all used our entire lives, but many of
(05:32):
us never heard of him, and his recognition is very limited.
And it goes to show you that even if you
make a small contribution, you can change the world that
you may not even know about. And over the next
century or so, the bicycle hasn't changed very much, at
least the bicycle frame. It's gotten better material and more aerodynamic.
(05:52):
The gear system was invented to make it easier to
ride for longer distances, and it's been more customizable whether
you're doing mountain biking, cycling for speed, or if you're
just daily riding and you need a basket in front
to get your daily groceries from the store. There have
been so many iterations of the bicycle. It has become
a sport where we try to check our speed and
(06:13):
endurance and also something that is thought of as a
toy that kids get early in their lives to learn
how to ride and is used as a symbol of freedom.
Although it is made less popular by the invention of
the automobile, it is still around to this day and
so a great way of transportation and exercise, and part
(06:33):
of that is due to Isaac Johnson's patent of the
bicycle frame that we know today. And if you want
to learn more about getting into cycling, check out the
buzz Along Cycling podcast where host Sherry takes you through
all you need to know about getting into cycling and
ultracycling so that you can have the best experiences in
(06:56):
up your cycling game. And if you enjoyed this episode,
please send it to a friend let them know about
all the sports history you're learning about. Because one of
the best ways for us to grow is word of mouth,
and if you vouch for us, we'll keep growing. And
giving you more daily sports history and the answer to
(07:18):
today's trivia question, who were Buffalo Soldiers. Buffalo Soldiers were
all black bicycle infantries that were created after the Civil
War to traverse the country.
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