1 00:00:01,840 --> 00:00:07,640 Speaker 1: Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of iHeartRadio, Hey brain Stuff, 2 00:00:07,720 --> 00:00:12,320 Speaker 1: Lauren vohlabamb here. It's hard to imagine now, but there 3 00:00:12,400 --> 00:00:15,600 Speaker 1: was a time when riding a bicycle was deemed unsafe 4 00:00:15,640 --> 00:00:20,680 Speaker 1: and unladylike. The safety issue had some merit. Early versions 5 00:00:20,720 --> 00:00:23,560 Speaker 1: in the eighteen hundreds had features like no pedals and 6 00:00:23,760 --> 00:00:28,040 Speaker 1: leather tires, but in the eighteen eighties the Safety Bike 7 00:00:28,200 --> 00:00:32,720 Speaker 1: rolled onto the scene and changed everything. Unlike previous iterations, 8 00:00:32,840 --> 00:00:36,960 Speaker 1: the Safety featured two similar sized wheels, a chain and gears, 9 00:00:37,640 --> 00:00:40,760 Speaker 1: and as the name implied, the Safety provided a safer, 10 00:00:40,920 --> 00:00:45,360 Speaker 1: more stable ride, and at that point women began riding 11 00:00:45,400 --> 00:00:48,800 Speaker 1: more often, despite doctor's warnings that they'd strained themselves in 12 00:00:49,040 --> 00:00:51,920 Speaker 1: moral panic that they might down indecent for the time 13 00:00:52,080 --> 00:00:58,040 Speaker 1: kneelink bloomers instead of full length skirts. One such woman 14 00:00:58,280 --> 00:01:02,520 Speaker 1: was Annie Cohen Kopchowski, also known as Annie Londonderry, who 15 00:01:02,600 --> 00:01:06,480 Speaker 1: at age twenty three, displayed a remarkable amount of kutzpa, moxie, 16 00:01:06,640 --> 00:01:09,120 Speaker 1: and good old perseverance when she set out on an 17 00:01:09,120 --> 00:01:14,120 Speaker 1: around the world cycling adventure. Annie Cohen was born in 18 00:01:14,200 --> 00:01:17,360 Speaker 1: Lafia in eighteen seventy, before her family emigrated to the 19 00:01:17,480 --> 00:01:19,600 Speaker 1: United States and settled in the West End of Boston 20 00:01:19,640 --> 00:01:23,679 Speaker 1: in eighteen seventy five. She married one Max Koupschowski in 21 00:01:23,720 --> 00:01:26,640 Speaker 1: eighteen eighty eight, who, funnily enough made his business as 22 00:01:26,640 --> 00:01:31,080 Speaker 1: a peddler get it a peddler anyway. They had three 23 00:01:31,160 --> 00:01:34,199 Speaker 1: children by eighteen ninety two, all under the age of six. 24 00:01:34,760 --> 00:01:37,200 Speaker 1: At this point, millions of men and women both had 25 00:01:37,200 --> 00:01:41,680 Speaker 1: taken up cycling, but not Annie. For the article of 26 00:01:41,680 --> 00:01:44,319 Speaker 1: this episode is based on How Stuffworks. Spoke by email 27 00:01:44,360 --> 00:01:47,360 Speaker 1: with Peter Zeitlin, her great grand nephew and the author 28 00:01:47,440 --> 00:01:50,280 Speaker 1: of a historical fiction novel and a nonfiction book about 29 00:01:50,280 --> 00:01:54,520 Speaker 1: his famous ancestor. He explained she was a working mother 30 00:01:54,600 --> 00:01:57,160 Speaker 1: of three small children, which left little time for a 31 00:01:57,200 --> 00:02:01,960 Speaker 1: hobby such as cycling. The family lived in a tenement flat, 32 00:02:02,120 --> 00:02:04,960 Speaker 1: and in addition to running a busy household, Kopschowsky sold 33 00:02:05,000 --> 00:02:09,080 Speaker 1: advertising for several Boston newspapers. She was, by all accounts 34 00:02:09,120 --> 00:02:12,320 Speaker 1: good at her job, but out of necessity she had 35 00:02:12,360 --> 00:02:16,800 Speaker 1: developed the art of the hustle. She had no doubt 36 00:02:16,840 --> 00:02:19,360 Speaker 1: heard of Thomas Stevens, the British Man who was the 37 00:02:19,360 --> 00:02:21,840 Speaker 1: first person to cycle across the US and the world 38 00:02:21,880 --> 00:02:24,639 Speaker 1: in eighteen eighty four, and she certainly would have read 39 00:02:24,639 --> 00:02:27,560 Speaker 1: the eighteen eighty nine chronicle of intrepid journalist Nelly Bly, 40 00:02:27,880 --> 00:02:29,880 Speaker 1: who set out to beat the world record of Jules 41 00:02:29,919 --> 00:02:34,200 Speaker 1: Verne's fictional character Phileas Fogg, circumnavigating the globe in eighty days, 42 00:02:34,480 --> 00:02:37,959 Speaker 1: which Bli did, finishing in just seventy two. But back 43 00:02:37,960 --> 00:02:42,799 Speaker 1: to Kopchowski. She decided in February of eighteen ninety four 44 00:02:42,960 --> 00:02:44,959 Speaker 1: that she would make an attempt to become the first 45 00:02:45,000 --> 00:02:48,280 Speaker 1: woman to bicycle around the world, despite being a complete 46 00:02:48,320 --> 00:02:51,320 Speaker 1: novice with only two or maybe three riding lessons under 47 00:02:51,360 --> 00:02:54,639 Speaker 1: her belt at the time. Zeuitlin wrote in his nonfiction 48 00:02:54,720 --> 00:02:58,600 Speaker 1: book the bicycle represented to Annie a literal vehicle to 49 00:02:58,680 --> 00:03:02,640 Speaker 1: the fame, freedom, and material wealth she so craved. Her 50 00:03:02,680 --> 00:03:06,320 Speaker 1: proposed journey could provide the opportunity to refashion her identity 51 00:03:06,520 --> 00:03:11,440 Speaker 1: and create a new life for herself. So on June 52 00:03:11,440 --> 00:03:14,000 Speaker 1: twenty fifth of eighteen ninety four, she announced to a 53 00:03:14,040 --> 00:03:16,680 Speaker 1: crowd of supporters that she was leaving, telling them she 54 00:03:16,720 --> 00:03:18,840 Speaker 1: was making the trip to settle a bet between two 55 00:03:18,880 --> 00:03:21,959 Speaker 1: wealthy Boston merchants that no woman could travel around the 56 00:03:21,960 --> 00:03:25,480 Speaker 1: world by bicycle. She would cycle around the world in 57 00:03:25,520 --> 00:03:28,440 Speaker 1: fifteen months without any money, with only the clothes on 58 00:03:28,480 --> 00:03:30,880 Speaker 1: her back, She would not only have to earn her way, 59 00:03:30,960 --> 00:03:33,519 Speaker 1: but also return with five thousand dollars in her pocket 60 00:03:33,560 --> 00:03:36,200 Speaker 1: in order to win the bet, and ten thousand dollars 61 00:03:36,240 --> 00:03:40,960 Speaker 1: to boot Zeitlin said there remains a lot of mystery 62 00:03:41,040 --> 00:03:43,960 Speaker 1: surrounding the origins of her trip, including whether it might 63 00:03:44,000 --> 00:03:46,640 Speaker 1: have been part of a marketing scheme for Columbia Bicycles, 64 00:03:47,240 --> 00:03:49,680 Speaker 1: but she earned money as she went in several ways. 65 00:03:50,160 --> 00:03:52,800 Speaker 1: She sold space on her clothing and her bike to advertisers. 66 00:03:52,880 --> 00:03:57,040 Speaker 1: She pioneered sports related marketing for women, including her namesake sponsor, 67 00:03:57,280 --> 00:04:00,000 Speaker 1: the London Dairy Lithia Springs Water Company of New Hampshire. 68 00:04:00,600 --> 00:04:02,960 Speaker 1: The company paid one hundred dollars to finance the journey. 69 00:04:04,080 --> 00:04:06,120 Speaker 1: As her fame grew, she was able to sell souvenir 70 00:04:06,120 --> 00:04:09,000 Speaker 1: photos of herself and her autograph, and gave lectures about 71 00:04:09,040 --> 00:04:12,280 Speaker 1: her travels, at which an admission view was charged. She 72 00:04:12,320 --> 00:04:15,040 Speaker 1: also sometimes made guest appearances with her bike in stores 73 00:04:15,040 --> 00:04:17,280 Speaker 1: along the way to attract customers, for which she was 74 00:04:17,320 --> 00:04:22,000 Speaker 1: also paid. Early in her travels, Kopchowski was dubbed Annie 75 00:04:22,000 --> 00:04:25,520 Speaker 1: Londonderry after her sponsor, which was probably as much a 76 00:04:25,560 --> 00:04:29,080 Speaker 1: public relations move as anything else. But the journey was 77 00:04:29,120 --> 00:04:32,640 Speaker 1: not without trouble. She wasted time early in the trip, 78 00:04:32,880 --> 00:04:35,200 Speaker 1: spending a full month in New York City, ostensibly in 79 00:04:35,240 --> 00:04:38,880 Speaker 1: the name of publicity. The bicycle itself slowed her down, 80 00:04:39,440 --> 00:04:42,719 Speaker 1: weighing forty two pounds that's nineteen kilos, the bike was 81 00:04:42,839 --> 00:04:46,320 Speaker 1: not built for speed. Once in Chicago, she switched to 82 00:04:46,320 --> 00:04:48,919 Speaker 1: a men's sterling model, weighinged as twenty one pounds or 83 00:04:49,000 --> 00:04:52,520 Speaker 1: nine and a half kilos. Even with this improvement, her 84 00:04:52,600 --> 00:04:56,679 Speaker 1: road conditions were often rugged. Frustrated by her original riding 85 00:04:56,720 --> 00:05:00,120 Speaker 1: costume of a split skirt suit with bloomers underneath, at 86 00:05:00,080 --> 00:05:02,240 Speaker 1: the time she reached Chicago, she shed the skirt for 87 00:05:02,320 --> 00:05:05,279 Speaker 1: riding bloomers only, and eventually donned men's suits for the 88 00:05:05,279 --> 00:05:11,000 Speaker 1: remainder of her trip. Scandalous Interestingly, Kopchowsky only made it 89 00:05:11,040 --> 00:05:13,520 Speaker 1: as far west as Chicago because she realized that at 90 00:05:13,520 --> 00:05:17,000 Speaker 1: the pace she was riding, should never make her goal. Instead, 91 00:05:17,040 --> 00:05:19,320 Speaker 1: she hopped on her new lighter bike and rode back 92 00:05:19,360 --> 00:05:21,080 Speaker 1: to New York, where she caught a boat to France 93 00:05:21,120 --> 00:05:24,360 Speaker 1: and continued via bicycle, train and boat to finish the journey, 94 00:05:25,200 --> 00:05:28,520 Speaker 1: She logged thousands of miles on her bicycle, riding through France, 95 00:05:28,640 --> 00:05:32,520 Speaker 1: North Africa, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Sigone, and Hong Kong before 96 00:05:32,560 --> 00:05:35,480 Speaker 1: hopping another steamer for San Francisco and riding from there 97 00:05:35,560 --> 00:05:41,240 Speaker 1: back to Chicago. She didn't always divulge that information, however, 98 00:05:41,680 --> 00:05:44,800 Speaker 1: She told more than a few tall tales, often embellishing 99 00:05:44,839 --> 00:05:49,160 Speaker 1: her speeches and interviews with adventures of hunting tigers, dodging bullets, 100 00:05:49,240 --> 00:05:54,000 Speaker 1: or being waylaid by robbers. Zeitlin said Annie was a 101 00:05:54,040 --> 00:05:57,279 Speaker 1: showwoman at heart and a gifted racin tour. She set 102 00:05:57,320 --> 00:05:59,280 Speaker 1: out to make a sensation of herself and had a 103 00:05:59,360 --> 00:06:01,919 Speaker 1: keen sense of how to build her fame. If that 104 00:06:02,000 --> 00:06:04,720 Speaker 1: meant stretching the truth to make herself more quotable to 105 00:06:04,800 --> 00:06:07,720 Speaker 1: a reporter or more entertaining to an audience, she had 106 00:06:07,800 --> 00:06:11,240 Speaker 1: no qualms about doing that. Fame was her fuel, and 107 00:06:11,320 --> 00:06:13,599 Speaker 1: the more famous she became, the easier it was to 108 00:06:13,640 --> 00:06:18,120 Speaker 1: earn the money she needed to keep going. The press 109 00:06:18,200 --> 00:06:21,120 Speaker 1: was sometimes merciless about her choice of dress and her 110 00:06:21,320 --> 00:06:24,000 Speaker 1: gall and choice to leave her family in the first place, 111 00:06:24,440 --> 00:06:27,560 Speaker 1: but the public loved her, and cycling clubs around the 112 00:06:27,600 --> 00:06:32,039 Speaker 1: world joined her at various points during her ride. Koptchowski 113 00:06:32,120 --> 00:06:35,320 Speaker 1: finished the journey on Thursday, September twelfth of eighteen ninety 114 00:06:35,360 --> 00:06:39,240 Speaker 1: five in Chicago, fourteen days ahead of schedule, as she 115 00:06:39,320 --> 00:06:42,000 Speaker 1: claimed to have received the ten thousand dollars, but in 116 00:06:42,040 --> 00:06:44,960 Speaker 1: a more recent New York Times obituary, it appears she 117 00:06:45,000 --> 00:06:47,920 Speaker 1: never received the money from the wager, and in his reporting, 118 00:06:48,160 --> 00:06:52,640 Speaker 1: Zuitln determined that the wager never existed. She returned to 119 00:06:52,680 --> 00:06:55,320 Speaker 1: her family and had another child in eighteen ninety seven. 120 00:06:56,200 --> 00:06:58,680 Speaker 1: Cycling was never an important part of her life again. 121 00:06:59,480 --> 00:07:02,080 Speaker 1: She briefly left her family and lived in northern California, 122 00:07:02,279 --> 00:07:05,560 Speaker 1: then returned again. She and her husband lived in the Bronx, 123 00:07:05,600 --> 00:07:09,320 Speaker 1: New York, operating a small clothing business. In the nineteen twenties, 124 00:07:09,360 --> 00:07:11,720 Speaker 1: their business was destroyed by a fire, and she used 125 00:07:11,760 --> 00:07:15,000 Speaker 1: the insurance money to start another business in Manhattan. She 126 00:07:15,040 --> 00:07:17,520 Speaker 1: would die of a stroke on November eleventh of nineteen 127 00:07:17,560 --> 00:07:22,800 Speaker 1: forty seven, at the age of seventy seven. Kopchowski's adventure 128 00:07:23,040 --> 00:07:25,400 Speaker 1: was covered by the global media at a time when 129 00:07:25,440 --> 00:07:30,200 Speaker 1: women's suffrage was a prominent issue. Zeitlin said countless women 130 00:07:30,240 --> 00:07:32,000 Speaker 1: would have been aware of her journey and that she 131 00:07:32,080 --> 00:07:34,080 Speaker 1: was making it to prove that a woman could do 132 00:07:34,240 --> 00:07:37,200 Speaker 1: what only a man had done before, circle the world 133 00:07:37,200 --> 00:07:41,560 Speaker 1: by bicycle. What is widely underappreciated is how the humble 134 00:07:41,600 --> 00:07:44,240 Speaker 1: bicycle transformed the lives of women around the turn of 135 00:07:44,240 --> 00:07:48,600 Speaker 1: the twentieth century. A few months after Kopchowski's journey, Susan B. 136 00:07:48,680 --> 00:07:52,320 Speaker 1: Anthony told an interviewer that quote, bicycling has done more 137 00:07:52,360 --> 00:08:00,640 Speaker 1: to emancipaid women than anything in the world. Today's episode 138 00:08:00,720 --> 00:08:03,440 Speaker 1: is based on the article Annie Londonderry Bicycle Around the 139 00:08:03,440 --> 00:08:06,000 Speaker 1: World and into the record books on HowStuffWorks dot Com, 140 00:08:06,040 --> 00:08:08,800 Speaker 1: written by Patti Rasmusen Breen. Stuff is production of by 141 00:08:08,840 --> 00:08:11,240 Speaker 1: Heart Radio in partnership with HowStuffWorks dot Com, and it 142 00:08:11,280 --> 00:08:14,640 Speaker 1: is produced by Tyler Quaang. Four more podcasts my Heart Radio, 143 00:08:14,920 --> 00:08:17,960 Speaker 1: visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen 144 00:08:18,000 --> 00:08:19,000 Speaker 1: to your favorite shows.