Roller skateIn 1869, Isaac Hodgson received a U.S. patent No. 88,711 for his “roller-skate,” with a padded shoe attached to the skate frame. The earliest known type, using two large wheels on each skate was invented by a Belgian, Joseph Merlin, in 1759. In England, Robert John Tyers, a Picadilly fruiterer, on 22 Apr 1823 patented his Volitos, an “apparatus to be attached to boots ... for the purpose of travelling or pleasure,” which used five small wheels in a single line. Somewhat similar skates with rollers were used to simulate ice skating in a scene of Meyerbeer's opera Prophète, Paris, 16 Apr 1849.* Another American inventor, James L. Plimpton of New York, had a patent for four-wheeled roller skates from 1863, whose right was affirmed at a trial for infringement, 28 Jan 1876.* |
