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The bicycle exists because a volcano killed the horses.

After the 1815 Tambora eruption, harvests failed in 1816 and tens of thousands of horses starved or were slaughtered. Karl Drais looked for a substitute and on 12 June 1817 rode about seven kilometres from Mannheim to the Schwetzingen relay house – on a running machine with no pedals, taking just over an hour there and back.

Useful: Many inventions are answers to a shortage, not to a vision.

Source: en.wikipedia.org

19 jahrhundertTechnikgeschichteVerkehr

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Question on this card

What prompted Drais's running machine in 1817?

  1. A race
  2. A horse shortage after failed harvests
  3. A tax on carriages
  4. A military order
Show the answer

Correct: A horse shortage after failed harvests

After the Tambora eruption horses died in huge numbers – Drais sought a replacement.

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