Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
Marshall W. "Major" Taylor (1878-1932), the first African-American to become a world-champion cyclist, departed the Australian city of Melbourne via train during the course of his second racing tour in the Land Down Under. (His first tour in Australia took place the previous year.) The Indiana-born Taylor had launched his professional cycling career at New York... Continue Reading →
Bicycle pioneer Henri Desgrange died in the commune of Beauvallon in southeastern France at the age of 75. Desgrange had been born into a middle-class family in Paris in 1865. Early on in his working life, he served as a clerk in one of the city’s law firms. Desgrange also developed a strong enthusiasm for... Continue Reading →
A Parisian mechanic named Jules Pierre Suriray was awarded French patent number 86,680 for a radial-style ball bearing he had developed for bicycles. By this time, the use of ball bearings to reduce friction between rotating parts had already long been identified with and applied to various forms of transportation. Ball bearings were used for... Continue Reading →
Hélène Dutrieu, whose skills and accomplishments involved several modes of transportation, was born in the municipality of Tournai in Belgium. By the time she was only 15, she had already established herself as a professional track cyclist. One of Dutrieu’s biggest achievements in this role took place in 1893 when she set a new women’s... Continue Reading →
Professional racing cyclist Lee Wai Sze, who also goes by the name of Sarah Lee, was born in the urban area of Kowloon in Hong Kong. Despite being born with anemia, Lee participated in and excelled in athletics at an early age. She eventually developed a strong interest in cycling, and started pursuing that sport on a... Continue Reading →
Thorvald Ellegaard, one of Denmark’s leading track racing cyclists, died in the Danish community of Charlottenlund at the age of 77. He had been born on the Danish island of Funen in 1877. Ellegaard began competing as a cyclist in 1895, turning professional about three years later. He eventually established himself as an international champion... Continue Reading →
Albéric “Briek” Schotte won the 32nd running of the Tour of Flanders, an annual one-day cycling race on cobbled roads in northern Belgium’s Flemish Region (also known as Flanders). The competition first took place in 1913, with the years during World War I marking the only time to date in which it has not been... Continue Reading →
During the late 19th century, Katherine T. “Kittie” Knox was a transportation pioneer who bravely confronted the era’s gender and racial barriers. Knox, who was born in 1874 to a white mother and African-American father, earned a living as a seamstress but found her passion in bicycling. Knox became a member of the Riverside Cycling... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 