Trace the evolution of the bicycle through these photos and discover how this miraculous machine helped shaped the American landscape.

  • 1816 Draisine: The summer of 1815 saw a drop in global temperatures and famine across Europe and North America as a result of the volcanic eruption of Mt. Tambura in Indonesia. German inventor Karl Drais could no longer depend on his horses and livestock, and so the Laufmaschine (German for "running machine") was built in response to the need for transportation. The invention exploded in popularity, quickly becoming the envy of high society across Europe’s largest cities. The bicycle would soon influence every aspect of life in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.