The first roller skates were invented in the early 1700’s. He wanted to go skating in the summer and so attached wooden spools to strips of wood which he then attached to his shoes. This enabled him to roll in straight lines but not to corner. These first roller skates were called Skeelers.
The man that is credited with the invention of the roller skate was Joseph Merlin. He was born September 17, 1735 and at the age of 24, in 1759, he skated into a ballroom playing a violin. Unfortunately he had not thought of a way to stop and so crashed into the large ballroom mirrors and broke his violin. His introduction of the roller skate was a success however as the first pair of roller skates were sold in Belgium in 1760.
The roller skate was a wooden sole that attached to a boot. They had 2 to 4 rollers made of copper, wood or ivory attached to the bottom in a straight line. They were again not very maneuverable and could only achieve wide sweeping circles. Despite this public interest grew and the first public skating rinks were opened in 1857.
Merlin is also responsible for improving musical instruments and manufacturing automata. He created Merlin's Mechanical Museum to display his machines. His Silver Swan automaton is now on display at the Bowes Museum.
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