More About Rollerskates!

The first known roller skates were invented in England almost 300 years ago by John-Joseph Merlin. But, even though John-Joseph was the first to invent roller skates, another man actually patented the invention more than 50 years later. So, even though someone has a good idea for an invention, it is the person who patents it that officially owns the invention. A patent provides the inventor with legal permission from the government to make and sell that invention, although other people can improve on it or make different versions of that invention. That’s a good thing because people using those earliest roller skates had a lot of trouble making turns and mostly just skated in a straight line.  If roller skates were still like that today, do you think roller skating would be an Olympic sport? Luckily, roller skates have changed a lot over the years. If you would like to learn more about roller skates, look for “The History of Roller Skating” by James Turner and Michael Zaidman (National Museum of Roller Skating, 1997).