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VIDEO: Thomas Edison 1899 - Doing Mean Bike Tricks - Yes, Bike Tricks! watch!

youtube.com — An EXTREMELY rare Video of the Great Thomas Edison - and as you can see .. He had quite a playful side to him :-)

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  • nymphetamine, on 10/12/2007, -4/+16I wonder if he ever went off a ramp or something?
  • andrethegiant, on 10/12/2007, -4/+79not so rare if it's on youtube :D
  • maverick999, on 10/12/2007, -5/+149This was a film by Thomas Edison, not of him...
    • mrASSMAN, on 10/12/2007, -63/+9^^ EVERYONE READ THE ABOVE COMMENT ^^
    • cyroxos, on 10/12/2007, -4/+14Is this true? How do you know? Sources?
    • leobaby, on 10/12/2007, -7/+2still a great find. +digg.
    • Jaybob404, on 10/12/2007, -7/+1@cyroxos; it was in the gazetteer... duh.
    • Miyazaki, on 10/12/2007, -2/+34I'm going with this guy. Edison was 52 when this was filmed, if it was filmed in 1899.

      For some reason, I don't think he was outback practicing on his BMX bike at that age.
    • Greattastic, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3true dat.

      double true.

      Edison rarely appeared in his own films.
    • jerrygofixit, on 10/12/2007, -3/+4Have you ever been to his home/museum in West Orange? This is _actually documented_ there, please get your story straight before you post nonsense. He should not be +dugg for his asinine comment.
    • brownspank, on 10/12/2007, -4/+2"For some reason, I don't think he was outback practicing on his BMX bike at that age."

      Yeah, Edison wasn't an australian biker.
  • whiskeymb, on 10/12/2007, -17/+3were the videos suggested at the end porn related for anyone else?!
  • GlitchEnzo, on 10/12/2007, -8/+2811899? OLD NEWS!!! :-P
    • spadin, on 10/12/2007, -22/+3Seriously, this has been on digg at least once every year since the video was released.
  • lazydrumhead, on 10/12/2007, -14/+4Cool but inacurrate.
  • tman700, on 10/12/2007, -13/+8What a showoff. ;-)
  • dwtd, on 10/12/2007, -11/+2The first two comments beneath the video are hilarious.
  • HaroldHupmobile, on 10/12/2007, -31/+15Edison was, and always will be a prick.
  • skidogallard, on 10/12/2007, -3/+11So that's who invented flatland BMX!
  • masamunecyrus, on 10/12/2007, -16/+40Thomas Edison was the 20th century version of an evil 21st century monopolitic corporation.

    Nikola Tesla was the real inventor of the 20th century.
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikola_Tesla
    • Nitrodist, on 10/12/2007, -28/+5Yes we all know that. No one gives a ***** who invented what anyway!
    • kigabit, on 10/12/2007, -7/+12Evil monopolies existed long before the "corporation" as you know it was thought of. Think about the British East India Company, for example. Grow up and stop your blind hate. Also, it's clear that Edison was a jerk, and perhaps Tesla was a better person than him, but both made valuable contributions to society. Admittedly, though, Tesla's research into AC power (and other electrical applications, like spark plugs) allowed for our current infrastructure so there is some truth to what you say. I just don't like the way you said it.
    • masamunecyrus, on 10/12/2007, -4/+15I never said evil monopolitic corporations weren't around back then. However, back then they would kill and enslave people. Nowadays, they just use shameful tactics and buyouts, among other things.

      And Tesla still doesn't get the attention he deserves. Edison was an inventor; Tesla was a discoverer. Unfortunately, Edison treated him like crap, and in the end, he died impoverished and alone, despite contributing more to the modern world than nearly anyone else in the past millennia.
    • LucasVB, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5@Nitrodist: I care. Credit should always go where its due, and whenever it doesn't the world becomes a bit more unfair and ignorant, and people feel less the need to invent or innovate. The only great thing Edison ever was is an entrepreneur, not an inventor as he is usually taken for - what ends up taking the spotlight away from the true great inventors of that century.

      This discussion is completely irrelevant in this article, though, and bringing Tesla on the topic was unnecessary. (but he was, indeed, the greatest inventor of that time)
    • gellfex, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5Edison was the Bill Gates of his time. He used mass brainpower not inspiration or insight to achieve his innovations, then marketed the hell out of them, and slandered his competitors. The electric chair was invented by Edison to illustrate the danger of the AC power being promoted by Tesla and Westinghouse in contrast to his DC systems.

      Of personal note, I had a basement loft in an ancient TriBeCa loft building where the Edison vintage sidewalk elevator was powered by an enormous 220v DC motor that had it's own meter.
    • Legolover64, on 10/12/2007, -0/+17Agreed. Edison was a REALLY bad guy, he killed people and animals to prove the point that his less-efficient power system DC was better than the safer and better AC.

      Tesla pwnz Edison.
  • Jaybob404, on 10/12/2007, -9/+6Geeks can be athletic, too :D
  • umdigger, on 10/12/2007, -11/+4...pegs...shocks...awesome...
  • brstilson, on 10/12/2007, -2/+15He got like 3 feet of air that time....
  • DaveCT, on 10/12/2007, -6/+0flatland extremist
  • JavertHolmes, on 10/12/2007, -2/+261899: A kiss, bike tricks, people outside walking around doing nothing.
    2006: An anonymous ass, wheelchair tricks on a skate ramp, people inside their bedroom doing nothing on a webcam.

    The more things change...
  • MrBabyMan, on 10/12/2007, -3/+10Looks like Thomas Edison just made Mat Hoffman his bitch.
  • nyccharlie, on 10/12/2007, -9/+6Thomas Edison invented the Xgames
  • themikeflynn, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6I hope I wasn't the only one that thought this was fake at first. I didn't know they had bikes quite like that back then. But after a quick Wikipedia check, theres an image of one from 1896 that has a very similar build to it.
  • TalenKlaive, on 10/12/2007, -9/+2I'm gonna have to say it looks fake. The title, unless it was freeze framed after digitizing, is too static. Titles in 1899 were done on felt boards, and while the camera and felt board were often stationary and locked down, the image would still be jittery. Camera movements were very primitive, and often had quite a bit of jitter.
    • paperface, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5So it couldn't just have a new title? The original may not have had one, or it was replaced with something more readable.
    • bat-21, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7Most of Edison's films didn't have title cards. Many were added later by historians for archival purposes.
  • s14sh3r, on 10/12/2007, -2/+30It's legit. Google "thomas edison bike trick" and you find this http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/varstg:@field(NUMBER(0836))

    memory.loc.gov is part of the library of congress, so unless it's a hoax by them...it's legit.
    • blobzorz, on 10/12/2007, -1/+15That wasnt Edison, just shot by him then.
  • flamingmb, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5gotta love fixed gear bikes.
  • hotbeefman, on 10/12/2007, -15/+3that's a hoax, a bunch of filters and a fake mustache.
  • Scagli3tti, on 10/12/2007, -4/+12it's not a hoax you ***** *****.
    1) It has already been established that this is a film BY edison, not OF him, and it is listed in the LoC.
    2) Thomas Edison didn't even have a mustache...
    • GabeUtsecks, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2At first, I thought it was fake, but it was definitely technologically possible. The video-recording technology used (the Kinetoscope) was created by Thomas A. Edison, Inc. in the early 1890s, and bicycles like the one in the video first emerged in the mid-1890s.

      [Even if we didn't have the Library of Congress confirmation, I would probably believe it is real (and I am a major skeptic about everything).]

  • blueroo, on 10/12/2007, -1/+12http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/varstg:@field(NUMBER(0836))

    Edison was responsible for filming this, *not* for performing it.
  • MrTea, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5Was this from the first ever X-games?
  • noeljohnhoward, on 10/12/2007, -3/+6Wheres the sound!?

    :p
    • gweedo767, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Just hire a pianist and you will have the sound of the times!
  • pencilneck, on 10/12/2007, -6/+4That is Egbert Haro, the great great great grandfather of Bob Haro! Egbert is rumored to also be the first person to pull a tail whip air, 96 years before Joe Johnson did. His trademark trick though was the Nut Cracker on a wedge ramp (later made popular by Dizz Hicks).
  • JohnCrichton, on 10/12/2007, -6/+3this is way more entertaining than the x-games.
  • Spaz007, on 10/12/2007, -6/+2Inaccurate title -1 Digg

    not Thomas Edison doing tricks...
  • thomasknowland, on 10/12/2007, -3/+2Sweet bike.
    It's a sledgehammer.
  • diggthiscrap, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7So when can I play the video game?

    Thomas Edison's American Wasteland (TEAW) or Thomas Edison's Underground (TEUG) ????
    • MrTea, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7The video game is only available for the Flipbookstation.
  • 250quid, on 10/12/2007, -6/+1Of course its real... Look at it, Theres a movie of it, How more real do you need it?
    • diggthiscrap, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I get the joke, I guess other didn't :)
  • Zlatty, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1This looks cool
    i wish i was that good
  • EsotericBoredom, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2This appears to be of a some kind of vaudeville act. The wooden stage and painted background give the appearance of a turn of the century theater. Then again this could be Edison's on sound stage. Either way a very interesting clip. Goes to prove that people haven't changed very much over the last 100 years or so just the media coverage of their actions has.
  • AceTracer, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2When I saw this on YouTube I knew someone was going to post it on here and claim it was Edison, when it's very clearly not.
    • vamp1regr4ve, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5so why didnt you post it yourself and get it right?
  • phenolholic, on 10/12/2007, -7/+2thomas edison was a thief. he stold the fruits of labor from men, including nikola tesla.
  • dpetrie, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5Not Edison on the bike but an Edison movie. Library of Congress entry for it at
    http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/varstg:@field(NUMBER(0836))

  • jonjonblazezany, on 10/12/2007, -8/+4fake
  • theprez, on 10/12/2007, -4/+3Did you say bike tricks? "Yes bike tricks!"
    OMG!!!
  • splitsixty, on 10/12/2007, -3/+0imagine if he had pegs....
  • OneAndOnlySnob, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1Oooooh kay.
  • Stockwell, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1fake as it may be, sure fun to watch....
  • PoorYorick, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1You should see what he was able to do on the "foot carriage," a forerunner to the skate board. He was the Tony Hawk of his day.
  • diqq, on 10/12/2007, -2/+0So, this video is not fake.
    But is he really the great Thomas Edison?
    It only says "a man riding a bicycle".

    http://www.ushistoricalarchive.com/cds/edison1.html
    "Bicycle trick riding, no. 2
    CREATED/PUBLISHED United States : Edison Manufacturing Co., 1899.
    SUMMARY Opens with a man riding a bicycle in a backwards circle, on a stage with a painted backdrop of a city street. He dismounts, then remounts the cycle and rides in a forwards circle, pausing and balancing for a moment as he rears up and spins the front wheel. Continuing in the circle, the man moves in front of the handlebars and continues pedaling briefly. For his next trick, the cyclist makes one circle and then pauses center stage as he does a balancing act to the left side of the bike, with his left leg on the pedal and his right on the front wheel. Ends after he remounts but continues to hold the bicycle motionless. "
  • PSPon, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Do it
    To it
  • SearchEngines, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Thd Digg Effect Strikes Again....check out the before & after Stats of a Digg Frontpage...


    Added June 13, 2006
    Submitted August 27
    Views: 4637
    Comments: 10
    Favorited: 47 times
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    Today August 31 2006 (WITH 1200 DIGGS)
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  • LydiaGenung, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0It would of been way cooler if he had been on a ramp or something
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