1817

On 18 July 1817, Georg Anton Schäffer was forced off Kauai after trying to seize the Hawaiian islands for the Russian-American Company. Everyone remembers Alaska. Almost nobody remembers how close Russia came to a Pacific enclave.

On 12 June 1817, Karl von Drais pushed a two-wheeled wooden contraption from Mannheim to Schwetzingen and back in under an hour. No pedals. No engine. Just a baron with a plank, two wheels, and a good road.