HISTORY OF TRICYCLES The first tricycle was built in 1680 for a
German paraplegic named Stephan Farffler, who lived near
Nuremburg. He was a watch-maker and the tricycle had gears and
hand cranks. Two Frenchmen, named Blanchard and Maguier invented
a tricycle in 1789, which prompted the Journal de Paris to coin
the words ‘bicycle’ and ‘tricycle’ and publish them on July 27th
to differentiate between the two types of machines. Denis
Johnson patented a tricycle in England in 1818, and a three-
wheeled swiftwalker was introduced in 1819. On November 18,
1876, James Starley introduced the Coventry Lever Tricycle, a
side-driven two-track, lever-driven machine, and that started
the tricycling craze in Great Britain. It had two small wheels
on the right side, that both steered simultaneously. A large
drive wheel was on the left side. In 1877, he introduced the
Coventry Rotary, one of the first rotary chain drive tricycles.
In 1879, twenty types of tricycles and multi-wheel cycles were
produced in Coventry, England, a