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The first display in public of roller skates was in 1760 when a Belgium inventor, Joseph Merlin, showed off his skates at a formal dinner party in London. These skates consisted of wheels arranged inline. During the party, he demonstrated his new invention by gliding across the floor. Although Joseph had successfully displayed to his colleagues his ability to roll on wheels, he had failed to provide any turning or stopping controls. His glide across the floor ended when he retained serious injury after crashing into a mirror.
The first successful public display of roller skates was on April 16, 1849 when Louis Legrange, a French actor, mounted wheels onto ice skates during a theatrical performance of the opera 'The Prophet'. The roller skates were used to simulate ice skating. Legrange’s demonstration was the beginning of a new fad of roller skating that spread across Europe and America in the 1850's and 60's. |  |
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- Over a century after Merlin’s first demonstration, a New York businessman invented a 'Rocking Skate'. In 1863, James Plimpton added a compressible rubber pad that allowed the skater to lean in the direction of turn. The ability to lean caused the path of the skate to curve. Plimpton’s 'Rocking Skate' allowed the first control turns on a roller skate. His application of rocking is still in use in modern day skates.
- In 1876, the invention of the toe stop allowed skaters to stop with greater control. The toe stop is now standard on most recreational skates.
- The use of ball bearings in skate wheels was first introduced in 1884 by Robery Henley of Indiana. Because of the reduction of friction, ball bearings allowed the skater to obtain greater speeds with less physical effort.
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One of the first mass producer of roller skates was Micajah C. Henley (b 06-24-1856 d 06-09-27) of Richmond, Indiana. Starting in 1881, Henley manufactured the 'Chicaco Skate'. The 'Chicago Skate' would become world renowned as one of the best skates available. Henley's nephew, Robert Henley, was responsible for the development of the first ball bearing skates. During peak production, the company was producing over 15,000 skates a week.
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