Pierre Lallement
Quick Summary
Pierre Lallement was a French mechanic who is credited with building and demonstrating a pedal-driven velocipede in Paris around 1863. He later brought parts for an improved version to the United States, completing his new velocipede in Ansonia, Connecticut, in 1865. Although a U.S. patent was issued in 1866, Lallement could not find a manufacturer and returned to France in 1868. In the same year, velocipedes built by the French company Michaux et Cie. became popular in America, and Lallement sold his patent. The term "bicycle" came into use in Europe in 1868 to replace the older term "vélocipède de pédale".1
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