History of the Wheelchair

• 6th century This is the earliest found image of a wheelchair. It is incised in stone on a Chinese sarcophagus.



• 16th century King Philip II of Spain used an elaborate rolling chair with movable arm and leg rests. Wheelchairs were well-developed in Europe and commonly found in drawings and literature



• 1655 First self-propelled wheelchair in a paraplegic watch maker named Stephen Farfler builds device with hand propellers



• 1700 King Louis XIV used a "roulette" for moving about while recovering from an operation.



• 18th century The first wheelchair that resembles today's design. It had two large front wooden wheels and one caster in rear.



• 19th and 20th centuries Following the American Civil war and World War I, the first wheelchairs were built with wooden frames, wicker seats, adjustable arm rests, footrests, and large spoked wheels.



• 1894 A U.S. patent was filed for a wheelchair with a fixed frame, adjustable surfaces, firm wicker seats, and large rear wheels for self-propulsion.



• 1932 engineer, Harry Jennings, built the first folding, tubular steel wheelchair. That was the earliest wheelchair similar to what is in use today. That chair was built for a paraplegic friend of Jennings called Herbert Everest. Together they founded Everest & Jennings, a company that monopolised the wheelchair market for many years.


Everest & Jennings