David V. Herlihy

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David V. Herlihy is the author of the book Bicycle: The History (Yale University Press), in which he seems to have finally cleared up the confusion surrounding the facts concerning the invention of the pedal bicycle.

According to Herlihy's research, the first person to put rotary cranks on a 2-wheeled dandy horse was Pierre Lallement, in Paris in 1863. Herlihy's book gives extensive documentation of the role played by the Olivier brothers and the Michaux company in the early history of the bicycle, and also to the lack of documentation for claims in favor of Kirkpatrick Macmillan, who is often given the credit for attaching the pedals.