Penny-farthing the trend was short-lived, the penny-farthing became a symbol of the late Victorian era. Its popularity also coincided with the birth of cycling as a sport. Eugène Meyer of Paris, France is now regarded as the father of the high bicycle by the International Cycling History Conference in place of James Starley. Meyer patented a wire-spoke tension wheel with individually adjustable spokes in 1869. They were called "spider" wheels in Britain when introduced there. Meyer produced a classic high bicycle design during the 1880s. James Starley in Coventry added the tangent spokes and the mounting step to his famous bicycle
Ministry of Transport Machine-Building Industry Ministry of Transport Machine-Building Industry The Ministry of Transport Machine-Building Industry () was one of the government ministries of the Soviet Union. Before 1946 it was known as the People's Commissariat of the Tank Industry of the USSR ("Народный комиссариат танковой промышленности СССР"). The seat was located in Moscow at Ryazanskaya St. ("Рязанская ул.") 8а, then evacuated to Chelyabinsk. The People's Commissariat of the Tank Industry was created 11 September 1941 on the basis of People's Commissariat of Middle Engineering Industry in conjunction with those of large losses of tanks in World War II. Similar commissariats existed at that time