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
Eugene A. Eberle Eugene A. Eberle Eugene A. Eberle (1840–1917) was a Broadway actor who appeared in over 60 productions, including Edwin Booth's Hamlet in 1864–65, in which he played the gravedigger.. Born in Bangor, Maine, Eberle made his debut as Paris in a Bangor production of Romeo and Juliette. By the early 1900s he was in the touring company of acclaimed actor Otis Skinner. Eberle's father Charles L. Eberle was a native of Philadelphia, and also an actor. His mother was Rachel Apherton, a descendant of Gen. Humphrey Apherton. The senior Eberle was killed on board the steamboat "Lexington" when it was