A two-wheeled vehicle, the wheels arranged in tandem, that is driven by a chain propelled by pedals and powered by its rider. The first predecessor of the bicycle, called the Dandy horse, was built in 1817, and the first such vehicle to be powered by pedals, the velocipede, appeared in the 1860s. The penny-farthing, with a front wheel much larger than the rear wheel, was introduced in the 1880s, but the frequency with which it pitched riders headfirst over the handlebars made it dangerous. The safety bicycle, resembling a modern bicycle, invented in 1876, soon replaced it.