Who Invented The Wheelchair

There have been many attempts to connect furniture to wheels, dating back to 530 bc when the Greeks placed wheels on a bed, creating the first known wheeled furniture. By 525 ad, the Chinese had placed wheels on chairs. However the first recognisable wheelchair was invented for King Phillip II of Spain. A drawing of the King dated 1595 shows him in a chair with wheels, armrests and footrests. However, it was not self propelled, and perhaps had a closer resemblance to a highchair than a wheelchair of today.


The modern wheelchair began to take shape in the late 19th century to early 20th century with the advent of push rims for self-propulsion in 1881, and wire spoked wheels replacing wooden ones in 1900.

The 20th century saw a rapid development in wheelchairs, from the first motorised wheels in 1918, to the first folding wheelchair, built in 1933 by Herbert B. Everest, paralysed in 1919 in a mining accident, and his friend Harry C. Jennings Sr., a mechanical engineer. By the mid 1970s Errol Markheim at Sopur in Germany, Jeff Minnebraker at Quadra in California, and Rainier Kuschall in Europe, had all created lightweight, aluminum, highly-adjustable chairs.

The most recent two decades have seen the progress in the modern wheelchair accelerate. They are lighter and perform better than ever before. There are now many possibilities available to improve the ride, from suspension systems which help to remove vibrations and jolts, to ultra-light weight frames which enable better performance, to special designs for every individualised need and taste.

2007-09-10 05:48:04 by gemstone

This video was uploaded from an Android phone.

I am doing a NASA spinoff project and I must include the biography of those that developed the project. PLEASE HELP!!!

go to
http://ntrs.larc.nasa.gov/search.jsp?N=0 &Ntk=all&Ntx=mode%20matchall& ;Ntt=advanced%2Bwheelchair

2007-03-22 19:14:59 by LilK

a broke person, great question, lol

2006-08-28 15:02:08 by Beanpole

I've read many misconceptions about universal healthcare. No, it's not perfect, yes sometimes there are waits. But here are some misconceptions and the facts.
MYTH:It takes weeks to months to go see a gp.
Fact: Walk in clinics are everywhere for most of them an appointment is not nessecary. it doesn't take weeks or months at the most a few hours. I've never waited longer than 5 minutes.
MYTH: You can't decide what doctor you want to see.
FACT: You can go see any doctor you wish.
MYTH: The doctors aren't as good.
FACT: They go through intense medical training.
MYTH: There are no medical advancements done in countries with universal healthcare.
FACT: Canada is the county that invented the pacemaker, discovered insulin for dietbedies, we were the first ones to start practicing chemotherepy on cancer patients, Canada was the first country to practice heart surgery by a robot , the ones who invented the electric wheelchair, we discovered the DNA gene for cystic fibrosis...
Those are just a few advancements from one country who has universal healthcare. There are thousands more from other countries as well.

MYTH: You must wait years for every surgery
FACT: Not true, I've known plenty of people including myself that got surgeries that were needed in just a few months. Although there are longer waits on hip replacements. (At least in Canada.)
MYTH: It's too expensive
FACT: The number one cause of bankruptcy in the US is from medical care.
So now that we cleared those up what is so terrible about it?
scottsdalehigh64: I would tend to disagree with your comment about American medical rsearch. Although your country does a lot of wonderful things on research and development, I would suggest you look at the size of your population. For the size of your population I would say you're probably on par with a lot of countries with socialized healthcare.

Canada was the first country to use a robot to reduce strokes in a common cardiac disorder. Canada was the first to use an artificial kidney machine, we discovered the chemotherapy drugs vinca alkaloids, we did the worlds first liver transplant, we were the first ones to finish the human genome map and we were the world’s first robotic-assisted left atrial appendage ligation.

This is just the tip of the iceberg. Plus the UofA might have the cure for alheimers and other forms of dimensia.
Midnightmoons: I can understand that.

What you have to understand about Americans is that they're idiots. They think we can't afford this but they don't realize that ten percent of our military budget for one year could fund universal health care for five years. Our military wastes so much money it's disgusting. People should've listened to Eisenhower when he warned against building an industrial military complex, but they didn't. Now we're screwed.

PS. Have you ever watched one of those documentaries where military officers and R&D guys talk about future wars and the battlefields of tommorow. They still plan for things as if we're in WWII. Peace is not even a thought that enters their brains (it would cost them funding).

2008-04-22 09:48:29 by Laughing all the way

As a small child, I watched a short-lived TV show in the late 1970's that involved a wheelchair-bound scientist who invents a means to temporarily walk again. He would climb into what looked like a cross between a giant casket and an oversized sun-tanning booth, noises and gas would shoot forth, and then he'd emerge with superhuman strength and the ability to walk. He dressed himself in a strange-looking outfit made up of chain-mail and a mask and would fight crime during the night before his strength and ability to walk wore off.

Anyone remember what this show was called or who starred in it? Website links would also be helpful.
The show was not the 90's TV series called, "M.A.N.T.I.S.", though the premise is similar.
I found somebody else asking the same question but no one could come up with an answer:
http://speculativevision.com/forum/messa ges/259/6291.html

Okay, I think I found it. Apparently it was a 2-hour TV pilot but never became a series because of some sort of studio politics.

Was it Exo-Man? http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0076008/

http://www.answers.com/topic/the-exo-man

2006-08-15 01:03:20 by JordanP