James Leonard Plimpton

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Leonard_Plimpton

The father of modern roller skating

From the first recorded use of roller skates on a London stage in 1743 through the next 120 years, all roller skates were in-line skates. However, the design of these in-line skates did not allow the skater to turn or stop efficiently.

James L. Plimpton, frustrated by the roller skates available, invented a new type of roller skate that would revolutionize the sport.

In January 1863, Plimpton patented a four-wheeled roller skate that was capable of turning. The mechanism had a pivoting action dampened by a rubber cushion which permitted the roller skater to curve by leaning in the desired direction of travel. Plimpton built a roller skating floor in the office of his New York City furniture business and leased out his skates. He founded the New York Roller Skating Association (NYRSA) to promote the sport.

In the summer of 1866, the NYRSA leased the fashionable resort hotel, the Atlantic House, in Newport, Rhode Island, and converted the dining room into a skating area. This was the first roller skating rink open to the public in the United States.

• Invented the four-wheeled skate (also called quad skate), 1863
• Opened the first public roller skating rink in 1866.
• Invented the class instructional system for teaching roller skating.
• Invented the awarding of proficiency medals.
• Credited with the popularity of roller skating as a recreational sport.

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James Leonard Plimpton (1828, Medfield, Massachusetts - 1911) was an American inventor who is known for changing the skating world with his patented roller skates in 1863. Plimpton's roller skates were safer and easier to use than the existing versions, his "rocker skates" or quad skates allowed people to steer just by leaning to the left or the right. He also opened some of the earliest roller skating rinks in New York City and Newport, Rhode Island.

James Plimpton also invented the Plimpton cabinet bed. He married Harriet Amelia Adams on December 6, 1852.

http://amhistory.si.edu/sports/exhibit/removers/plimpton/index.cfm

http://www.nndb.com/people/763/000165268/