On This Day 1885, First Motorcycle Patented

The inspiration for the earliest first motorcycle, was designed and built by the German inventors Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach in Bad Cannstatt, a city district of Stuttgart.
On August 29, 1885 Daimler was awarded Patent 36 423 for this "vehicle with gas or petroleum drive machine", in the words of the patent specification.
Maybach drove it 3 kilometers from Cannstatt to Untertürkheim, reaching 7.5 mph (12 km/h).
The first petroleum-powered vehicle, it was essentially a motorized bicycle, although the inventors called their invention the Reitwagen ("riding car"). They had not set out to create a vehicle form but to build a simple carriage for the engine, which was the focus of their endeavors.