May 11, 1893 – Early bicycle enthusiast, Henri Desgrange, established the very first bicycle world record, traveling at a top speed of 21.95 miles per hour or 35.325 km/hr at the Buffalo Velodrome in Paris, France.
This was sort of a starting point for Desgrange to take cycling to a whole new level. The Frenchman watched his first bicycle race in 1891 and caught the bug.
He ended up setting twelve world records in track cycling, was an early journalist/writer on the sport, and was the original founder of the Tour de France in 1903.
To find more great daily sports history make sure to check out the Sports Jersey Dispatch and Pigskin Dispatch.
More From Sports History Network

Super Bowl LX: A History-Making Super Bowl?
Once the Super Bowl game is done and dusted, there will be plenty of

Larry Csonka and Larry Brown – They Took a Licking but Kept on Ticking
In the 1970s, John Cameron Swayze would advertise Timex wristwatches with the slogan, “They

Pete Maravich Becomes NCAA’s All-Time Scoring Leader — January 31, 1970
On January 31, 1970, college basketball witnessed a moment that would echo through the

More Than Cheers: From Face Paint to Fireworks in Sports Fan Culture
Sports are rarely just about the game. From packed stadiums echoing with chants to

Ancient Grit: The Evolution of Combat from Olympia to Rome
Ancient Greeks transformed raw violence into a structured cult. In 708 BC, the introduction

Why Has Interest In The Super Bowl Grown In The UK Over The Past 20 Years?
Over the past two decades, the Super Bowl, America’s annual championship game and one

Reliving England’s Worst World Cup Heartbreaks
The English Football League is the oldest league system dating way back to 1888.

Big Jim Thorpe’s Forgotten Football Vacation
It was December of 1924 when Big Jim Thorpe of the NFL’s Rock Island