Thomas Stevens
The first man to cycle around the world was Thomas Stevens who set out on his journey on 22 April, 1884 from San Francisco, at the age of 29.
He rode a penny-farthing, a cycle with a huge front wheel. Arriving in New York some months later he boarded a ship that took him across the Atlantic to Europe. Disembarking at Liverpool, he began the second leg of his journey which was to take him through England, France, Germany, Austria, Hungary, and finally to Istanbul, gateway to Asia. In Turkey, he had to outrun mobs of people who wanted him to teach them cycling.
Arriving in India, through Afghanistan, he cycled down the Grand Trunk Road in scorching heat. Admirers and well-wishers helped him along the way with cooling drinks till he reached Calcutta where he took a ship for HongKong.
His journey through China was a nightmare because the Chinese distrusted foreigners, especially whites. Chased by mobs and hit by stones, he arrived shaken but in one piece at Shanghai. From there he took a ferry to Nagasaki, Japan.
His bicycle journey ended when he reached the port of Yokohama on 17 December, 1886. A ship took him across the Pacific back to San Francisco from where he had started. He had circumnavigated the globe on his penny-farthing!
