02/09/2024
On this day in 1812: Scottish pedal-bicycle inventor Kirkpatrick Macmillan was born in Keir, Dumfriesshire. He rode his new, extremely heavy, invention 68 miles into Glasgow in June 1842. The trip took him two days and was not without incident. He knocked over a little girl in the Gorbals and was fined five shillings.
He never thought of patenting his invention or trying to make any money out of it, preferring to enjoy the quiet country life to which he was accustomed.