The History of Wheels

A wheel is a circular component that is intended to rotate on an axle bearing

The English word wheel comes from the Old English word hweol, hweogol, from Proto-Germanic hwehwlan, hwegwlan, from Proto-Indo-European kwekwlo, an extended form of the root kwel- "to revolve, move around". Cognates within Indo-European include Icelandic hjól "wheel, tyre", Greek κύκλος kúklos, and Sanskrit chakra, the latter both meaning "circle" or "wheel".

Wheels have made it easier for all of us to travel. The creation of wheels is perhaps the significant discovery. It is unbelievable to visualize the globe with no wheels around. As soon as the wheel was invented, there was a revolt in the manufacturing industry.

The first inventor of the wheel is yet not known to anybody in the world. The first ever wheel was discovered around 3,000 years ago. However, the fact is that it is still anonymous that in which year the wheel was actually invented. The weavers and potters were the first ones to use wheels.

The field of pottery is a crucial discovery for progression of humanity. The containers that were prepared by the potters are helpful for carrying the essentials of drinking water and nutritious food. There was yet another enhancement by utilizing the wheels for moving on the vehicles. The advanced version of these wheels is now being used by the cars, which we use today for our own convenience.

There was always a regular growth in the advancement of inventing new and innovative designs of wheels. The wheels that we now see in ships and other heavy vehicles were also invented during the early centuries, but the differences are huge. The designs earlier were simpler in comparison to the designs we see today, as they are more advanced and are completely prepared from the amalgamation of the best of technologies.

Unlike other inventions that took place in around 5000 B.C. or even much earlier, wheels are still accepted today and are still in demand. It does not matter whether they change the outer and inner body parts, but the function remains the same even today. Many of the contemporary discoveries are executed from the ancient and original wheels. It clearly states that if there would not have been any invention or designs of wheels, there would not have been any vehicle on this Earth. Our roads would have been empty and aeroplanes and glider crafts would not have covered up the sky.

As result of wheels, there has been development in the field of industrialization. The different manufacturing factories and companies are a productive outcome of wheels. If today anybody of us could have found out the name or the person, who invented wheels, he or she definitely deserved world recognition and much more than what he or she did not deserve.

The history can be briefed as follows

4500–3300 BCE: Chalcolithic, invention of the potter's wheel; earliest wooden wheels (disks with a hole for the axle); earliest wheeled vehicles, domestication of the horse

3300–2200 BCE: Early Bronze Age

2200–1550 BCE: Middle Bronze Age, invention of the spoked wheel and the chariot