Friday 3rd April 1818

A steam-powered ‘drais’ (pedal-less bicycle)was demonstrated in the Luxembourg Gardens of Paris, France. The contraption, dubbed a Vélocipédraisiavaporianna (steam-powered drais), is depicted in a period lithograph (see image), with minimal text explanation, nor even the name of its German builder. Some historians consider the lithograph a joke, as no other documentation of this event has been unearthed to date, but the context of the drawing, and its technical details, suggest it was certainly possible, and it would not have been the first steam-powered vehicle in Paris in that era