Did you ever wonder how long wheelchairs have been around?

By David McClelland

Did you ever wonder how long wheelchairs have been around?

It turns out that wheelchairs have been around for over 400 years. The first known wheelchair was created by an unknown inventor for King Phillip II of Spain. It was called an "invalids chair" and the year was 1595. In 1655, Stephen Farfler, a paraplegic watchmaker, built a self-propelling chair on a three wheel chassis. The difference between these first two wheelchairs appears to be that Phillip II had to be pushed from place to place, whereas Mr. Farfler was able to wheel himself around. In 1783, John Dawson of Bath, England, invented a wheelchair with two large back wheels and one small front wheel. It was named for the town of Bath, was easier to maneuver than its predecessors and outsold all other wheelchairs in the early 1800's.

Many improvements have been made to wheelchairs over the last 200 years. In 1932, Harold Jennings, an engineer, made the first folding, tubular steel wheelchair. It was the earliest wheelchair that is similar to what are in use today. Jennings designed it for Herbert Everest, a paraplegic friend and, together, they later founded the Everest & Jennings Company that monopolized the wheelchair market for years. The Department of Justice brought an anti-trust suit against the company that was eventually settled out of court.

Wheelchairs became so maneuverable that some of their users began to participate in wheelchair sports such as basketball, rugby and tennis. Wheelchair rugby was played in Canada as early as 1977. As late as July 5, 2009 in London, on day 13 of the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, the wheelchair ladies' doubles tennis match was won by two ladies from the Netherlands, Korie Homan and Esther Vergeer. Wheelchair maneuverability had come a long way.

Finally, the motorized wheelchair came on the scene shortly after WWII. Canadian, George Johann Klein, is credited with inventing the electric wheelchair for injured veterans. Some see this as the greatest Canadian invention. Today, the electric wheelchairs have changed the lives of millions of people. These wheelchairs provide invalids with a ray of hope that they can be independent in movement and provide a measure of optimism in their lives.