The city recently installed a plaque near the pavilion at the entrance to the Ansonia Riverwalk to honor Pierre Lallement. The Frenchman lived in Ansonia in 1865 when he invented the bicycle. The plaque is on the left, imbedded in the concrete pad next to the bicycle rack. Photo by Eileen Krugel.
Below is a detail of the plaque:
1 comment:
Well done - someone "gets it":
I came across this Register article and found it amusing in nature. My Yale School of History thesis involved accurate archived information for which it was researched and notarized by the American Bicycle Museum in Chicago and renown overseas historians. Nowhere in the critical design does a one “Pierre Lallement” get credit to any design aspects for a two wheel invention while the entire concept originated through multiple engineers in Europe. The U.S. Patent is only a secondary concept with multiple originating links through mechanical practices. The United States as a growing industrial entity at the time was to quick to draw claim as this festival is deriving accountability behind its own claim. Arguments about who invented the bicycle are thus rarely fruitful and never conclusive. FACT - In all likelihood, the Baron von Drais (Germany), Kirkpatrick Macmillan (Scotland), the Michaux family (France), Henry Lawson (England) and many others, all contributed critical elements but it was the Starley family of Coventry, England who can perhaps lay claim to bringing it all together as a commercial venture even though their first models were unsuccessful and they did not necessarily “invent” the designs that they incorporated.
Even though controversy still surrounds Macmillan’s machine, it was prophetic in that it included three of these critical design elements: (1) two smallish, equally-sized wheels with the rider sitting between them (2) a rear-wheel drive and (3) a front wheel that was steered and was independent of the transmission. The additional two pieces of the puzzle that were subsequently incorporated by Starley and others were (4) a “geared-up” drivetrain (such that the number of pedal revolutions does not equal the number of wheel rotations) and (5) the chain drive itself which was eventually to become ubiquitous.
Remember that bicycle inventions that were successful were rarely the result of a spontaneous inspiration by one person. More commonly, they were built on previous ideas and experiments and no one date or individual can always be attributed to a particular design. Furthermore, many viable prototypes were abandoned and not pursued until years later. One could argue, perhaps, that an invention should have successful “progeny” to be considered a true milestone. Some “milestones” can thus be challenged in that they only gained importance in retrospect; they might have marked a stepping stone to something more advanced from which there was no turning back but in reality, the innovation was quickly forgotten and had no permanent impact. All this creates both ambiguity and controversy as to who the “true” inventor was and the date when the first successful version was produced.
HAVING A FAMILY MEMBER WHO DID a Yale ECONOMIC IMPROVEMENT STUDY for the town of ANSONIA, CT years back, one has to wonder why the town of Ansonia is not concentrating on a aggressive and effective long-term beautification project lifting it from its presence of industrial ash. One would think money would be well spent fixing the present conditions in Ansonia rather than holding a festival representing the historic past. Perhaps festivals could be arranged once Ansonia’s buildings are torn town and rehabbed attracting the Connecticut festival population.
Are you ready for another Yale School Economic Study which we can hold as a festival? Conjuring up ways to attract people to your city at this point is obvious due to recent blight reports.
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