When Were Wheelchairs Invented and How Have They Changed?

For a disabled person, a wheelchair can be mobility, independence, and freedom. When did we start using wheelchairs, though? When did people with spinal injuries and other conditions that make it hard or impossible to walk get the privilege of a set of wheels? The history of the wheelchair goes back further than most people think!

When Was the First Wheelchair Made?

We don't know for sure, but wheels and chairs have both existed for a long time. What we do know is that the earliest wheelchairs were not self-propelled, but would have been pushed by another person, whether a friend, family member or servant.

In about 530 B.C. we see the first documentation of wheeled beds, which were used in Greece. A child-sized wheeled bed was depicted on a Greek vase. Wheeled beds may simply, however, have been designed to be easy to move so you could clean under them. Or they could have been used to move an invalid outside to get some air. We can't be sure. The first good documentation of actual wheelchairs comes from China, in about 525 A.D. An engraving shows one of these chairs and that they likely were used to transport the infirm. As time goes on, documentation improved. The first known self-propelled wheelchair did not show up until 1655. It was built by a 22-year-old watchmaker named Stephan Farffler. So, why did a watchmaker build a wheelchair? Answer: It was for himself. Stephen Farffler was unable to walk and solved his problem. He also made a device for turning an hourglass. It had three wheels and was propelled using a hand crack and a system of complicated cranks and cogwheels, because he was, after all, a clockmaker. Hand-cranked, chain-driven wheelchairs still showed up for a while.

How Has Wheelchair Technology Changed?

In some ways, wheelchair technology has not changed that much. Stephen Farffler's three-wheeled chair doesn't look that different from a modern manual wheelchair, albeit with worse tires. However, there have been some key inventions that have paved the way for the modern wheelchair.

The so-called Bath chair was designed in that city in 1783 to transport people in comfort to the therapeutic waters. It was the first wheelchair to be made commercially and could be self-propelled, pushed by an attendant, or pulled by a horse, donkey, or goat. It was expensive, but you could, for the first time, simply buy a wheelchair instead of having to have one made for you. Queen Victoria owned one in her later years that was pulled by a small pony. Other than that, though, wheelchairs didn't change that much until the 19th century. In the late 19th century, push rims were added. This made chairs much easier to self-propel. Chairs also became much lighter, although they were still heavy by modern standards and not easy to transport. As bicycles became more sophisticated, so did the wheels on wheelchairs, coming from the same technology. A key development was in 1933 when Herbert Everest and Harry Jennings failed to start a band, then succeeded in inventing an X-frame that allowed wheelchairs to fold. These chairs pretty much are the modern manual wheelchair, with only minor changes. Modern chairs are often made of aluminum and thus even lighter, but the design hasn't changed that much.

What About Powered Wheelchairs?

If you need a powered chair, then you were out of luck. For most of history, the power for your chair had to come from muscle power...be it from another human or an animal. The first attempt at a powered wheelchair was in 1912 and used a small internal combustion engine. While this one did not work well, after World War I, the Argson Invalid Tricycle did gain some traction. This was more like a large tricycle than a wheelchair but could come with a petrol engine or an electric one. Like a lot of these inventions, it was also made by a disabled person. The Argson was popular with servicemen coming home with injuries from the war. The Second World War triggered the invention of the first true electric wheelchair similarly. George Klein designed the electric wheelchair for returning veterans. It was heavy and ungainly, but it worked. Every powered wheelchair since then comes from Klein's designs and while they are a lot lighter now, they work on a similar principle. Meanwhile, the spiritual descendent of the "invalid tricycle" is probably the mobility scooter, called "scooters" in the U.K. and "mobile" in the U.S. These are the ones with three wheels, a fairly powerful engine and a shopping basket that you often see available for rent at large stores, museums, and the like.

What About Specialty Wheelchairs?

If you have a manual chair, it descends from the Jennings chair. If you have a powered chair, it descends from the Klein chair. But what about some of the specialty wheelchairs out there? Here's a quick overview!

The Beach Chair

Beach wheelchairs weren't invented until 1997 when Michael Demming designed one for his wife. This also became the prototype of all-terrain wheelchairs that can handle hiking trails and the like.

Sports Wheelchairs

Humans race everything, and wheelchairs are no exception. The first racing chair was created by a Canadian, Paul Clark, in the early 1980s and used at the 1984 Paralympics. Before that, wheelchair athletes used regular chairs. Once the racing chair showed up, everyone had to use one. Racing wheelchairs have angled wheels for increased speed, smaller push rims (which transmit energy better), improved steering, etc.

Specialist wheelchairs have also been built for sports such as basketball, tennis, baseball, etc. Wheelchair athletes can now get equipment designed for their sport and tested by other disabled athletes to optimize it. In the future, we will likely have wheelchairs that respond to the user's thoughts (allowing much more freedom for quadriplegics). A stair-climbing wheelchair exists but is currently too expensive for most people. Wheelchairs are becoming as varied as the people who use them. They have come a long way from those early Chinese chairs that had to be pushed by a servant! Who knows what might come next?