THE WHEELCHAIR

It is uncertain as to what can be considered the first wheelchair, or who invented it. The first known dedicated wheelchair (invented in 1595 and called an invalids chair) was made for Phillip II of Spain by an unknown inventor. In 1655, Stephen Farfler, a paraplegic watchmaker, built a self-propelling chair on a three wheel chassis.

The Bath Wheelchair

In 1783, John Dawson of Bath, England, invented a wheelchair named after the town of Bath. Dawson designed a chair with two large wheels and one small one. The Bath wheelchair outsold all other wheelchairs throughout the early part of the 19th century.

Late 1800s

However, the Bath wheelchair was not that comfortable and during the last half of the 19th century many improvements were made to wheelchairs. An 1869 patent for a wheelchair showed the first model with rear push wheels and small front casters. Between, 1867 to 1875, inventors added new hollow rubber wheels similar to those used on bicycles on metal rims. In 1881, the pushrims for added self-propulsion were invented.

The 1900s

In 1900, the first spoked wheels were used on wheelchairs. In 1916, the first motorized wheelchair was manufactured in London.

The Folding Wheelchair

In 1932, engineer, Harry Jennings, built the first folding, tubular steel wheelchair. That was the earliest wheelchair similar to what is in modern use today. That wheelchair was built for a paraplegic friend of Jennings called Herbert Everest. Together they founded Everest & Jennings, a company that monopolized the wheelchair market for many years. An antitrust suit was actually brought against Everest & Jennings by the Department of Justice, who charged the company with rigging wheelchair prices. The case was finally settled out of court.

A bit of history...

• 6th century - this is the earliest found image of a wheelchair. It is incised in stone on a Chinese sarcophagus.
• 16th century - King Philip II of Spain used an elaborate rolling chair with movable arm and leg rests.
• 1700 - King Louis XIV used a "roulette" for moving about while recovering from an operation.
• 18th century - the first wheelchair that resembles today's design. It had two large front wooden wheels and one caster in rear.
• 19th and 20th centuries - following the American Civil war and World War I, the first wheelchairs were built with wooden frames, wicker seats, adjustable arm rests, footrests, and large spoked wheels.
• 1894 - a U.S. patent was filed for a wheelchair with a fixed frame, adjustable surfaces, firm wicker seats, and large rear wheels for self-propulsion.
• 1932 - Herbert Everest (an injured mining engineer) and Harold Jennings (a mechanical engineer) collaborated to design the first folding frame wheelchair. They went on to form the company that is today known as Everest & Jennings or E&J.
• 1937 - a patent was filed for the x-folding frame wheelchair. Sam Duke also marketed a folding wheelchair at same time.
• 1950s - Everest & Jennings developed the first powered wheelchair. They followed the development of transistor-controlled motors and adapted it to thier interest by adding a motor to their manual wheelchair design,
• 1952 - the beginning of wheelchair sports occurred with the first games held at the Stoke Mandeville Rehabilitation Center in England.
• 1964 - the first Paralympic games were held in Tokyo, Japan.
• 1975 - Bob Hall competed in Boston Marathon.
• 1970/80 - revolution in lighter weight manual chairs driven by the need and desires of wheelchair athletes.
• 1980s - microprocessor-controlled powered wheelchairs were developed, which allowed customization of controls to meet the needs of more user needs.
• 1980-90s - the revolution in powered wheelchair design, control, styles, range or travel distance, suspension, maneuverability, seating and other user options
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