Wheelchairshave been an important part of society. From helping wounded soldiers during the war, to helping the physically disabled to engage in various sporting activities—even allowing them to form professional athletic leagues of their own.

However, most of us, including those who use wheelchairs, don’t even know how wheelchairs came about. Below is a series of interesting wheelchair tidbits that are arranged in chronological order to give you a brief history of the wheelchair’s development.

Macedonia: 4000 B.C.

The wheel and the chair were two separate inventions that existed at the same period in Macedonia.

The Greeks: 530 B.C.

Illustrated vases found among Greek relics show beds on wheels. This suggests that the Greeks were the ones who initiated putting furniture on wheels.

The Chinese: 3rd Century A.D.

It was during the 3rd Century that the Chinese thought of attaching wheels to the legs of a chair to be able to transport the elderly and those who, for one reason or another, have difficulty walking.

The Romans 1553

The Romans, being…Romans, thought that wheels attached to chairs is a genius way of making the disabled work in the fields so that production won’t suffer.

King Philip II of Spain: 1595

The King wanted to be wheeled from one drinking spree to another in true royal comfort. So he decided that his wheeled-chair must have a footrest. We can all thank King Philip II for introducing the first wheelchair with a footrest.

Stephen Farfler: 1655

A disabled watch maker at 22, Stephen Farfler came up with the idea of making a self-propelled wheelchair. He got tired of having to wait for people to wheel him to where he needed to go. This allowed him to finish workingon more watches.

John Dawson: 1783

We owe the adjustable footrests and the reclining backrests to John Dawson. Dawson’s modifications opened people’s eyes to more opportunities to improve the wheelchair—including provisions for holding bags and cups.