Psst, hey, smarty pants, have you ridden on a train?
Or a bike? I'm sure you've been in a car before.
You might even be listening in one right now.
And some of you absolutely love the thrill of riding roller coasters.
Now, see if you can think of something all these things have in common. Do you know?
Ooh, ooh. Me know! Me know!
That's right, Grog.
after all, it was your invention.
SmartyPants, have you figured it out?
The wheel. That's right.
For thousands of years, people have used wheels to move faster from one place to another.
On rails, on roads, at amusement parks, and somewhere along the line, somebody thought to themselves, hey, let's put wheels on our feet.
Woohoo! Everyone look at me go!
Woohoo! Whoa, whoa, whoa!
Ah! Ah! Yeah, maybe it wasn't the most brilliant idea.
Well, not at first. But roller skating has since become a very popular sport.
Millions of people around the world roller skate, and it's become even more popular recently thanks in part to social media like TikTok and Instagram.
It's actually great exercise despite the hazards.
Whoa, whoa, whoa! Ah!
I'm okay. So how exactly do roller skates work?
How fast can a person go?
Are they safe? And how did it all start off with a truly big bang?
It's time for another WIFF of science and history, on Who's Smarted?
Who's smarted? Who's smart?
Is it you? Is it me?
Is it science? Or history?
Listen up! Everyone, we make smarting!
Lots of fun! On Who's Smarted?
Hey smarty -pants. trusty here with a special mission for all the smarty -pants listening.
But unlike a top secret mission, this mission requires you to tell everyone.
That's right. Your job is to spread the word about who smarted so we can keep growing and bringing you awesome new episodes.
To qualify for this mission, let's play a little game.
Who do you know that would love who smarted but doesn't listen to the show?
Is it A, a friend? B, a teacher, C, a relative, like your favorite cousin, or D, a neighbor who loves fun facts.
Got someone in mind?
Great. Question two.
Where and when will you tell this person about who's smarted?
Is it A, on a playdate, B, at school, C, in the car, or D, on the phone?
Pick one, make a plan, stick to it.
And best of all, complete this not so top secret mission!
I'm counting on you, smarty pants, the more people you tell, the bigger we grow, which means a lot more smarting for you.
All this roller skating talk got me pretty excited to go roller skating.
As you can hear, I'm at a roller rink.
Of course, I now have to decide which kind of roller skates I want to wear.
Smarty Pants, if you've ever gone roller skating, what kind of skates do you use?
Do you like the inline skate made popular by Rollerblade?
Those skates have their wheels in a straight line under the center of your foot.
Or, do you prefer the quad roller skate, which has two wheels under the front of your foot and then two wheels at the heel?
Uh -huh, uh -huh. Oh, seems both types have fans.
But here's another question for you.
Which type do you suppose was invented first?
Mm! Me no know that one.
Ooh, ooh, my dear sir, I can answer that question.
My name is Joseph Merlin, and I'm the inventor of the skates that came first. Ah, which means you invented...
Hm, smarty pants. Which kind of skates came first?
Inline roller blade style or the four -wheeled quad style?
If you said the four -wheeled quad skate, you're wrong.
Oh, wait, inline skates came first?
Why, yes, yes, they did.
Belgian inventor and musician Joseph Merlyn is said to have created the inline skate, which indeed came first in London during the 1760s.
Whee! Of course, there were others who claimed to have put wheels on shoes before Merlyn did.
Pff, even if they did, nobody put on a shirt like me.
In fact, I made it to a fancy masquerade party right now to introduce my wondrous new invention to London's Eye Society.
I'll be wearing my newly invented skates myself.
You sure that's a good idea?
They might not be ready to use.
Just watch in amazement as I skate and play the violin.
I don't think that's a good...
Shh! Quiet! Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you my marvelous creation.
Watch as I glide around the room on wheels.
While I play enchanting music.
So, Smarty -pants, because we live in the future, we know what happened.
Merlin did show off his skates at a costume party by rolling around and playing the violin.
But while the music was splendid, his skates were not.
Can you guess what was wrong with them?
Is it A, they had no brakes?
B, they couldn't turn?
Or C, both? If you said C, you're right.
With no way to slow down or turn, an out of control Merlin whizzed past all the spectators and crashed into a massive mirror.
which was worth over a hundred, thousand dollars.
The mirror was destroyed.
And so was the violin.
Merlin was also badly hurt.
Is there a doctor in the house?
Merlin would recover, but his skates would not.
It would take another hundred years for any kind of roller skating to become popular.
And the man who made it happen was a Yankee.
Now batting, right fielder, Aaron Judge!
No, no, no, no, no, no. Not the Yankees' baseball team.
I mean Yankee as in American, or more specifically from the Northern United States.
That's right. The name's Plimpton.
James Plimpton. I'm from Massachusetts, but I ran a furniture business in New York during the 1860s.
At the time, my doctor recommended I take up ice skating to stay in shape.
Unfortunately, you can't ice skate in the summer, so I thought I could try roller skatin'.
But the inline skates of my day couldn't turn, and you know what happens with those.
So I fixed it. Indeed he did.
Plimpton changed the design of the skate, placing two wheels beneath the of the foot and two wheels at the heel these wheel pairings were attached separately to the skate using devices known as trucks no a different kind of truck these trucks are springy carriages that allow skaters to turn by simply leaning in a different direction people who owned these quad skates could easily control their movement way what do you mean own i mean people who bought these skates could?
Ha -ha! Are you serious, man?
No, no. We don't want any of that.
Oh, right. Smarty Pants, can you guess what Klimpton did with his skates?
Did he A, only give them to his friends and family to use, B, rent them out, or C, keep his skates only to himself?
The correct answer is B, he rented them out.
Not to toot my own horn, but it was a brilliant move.
people kept paying me over and over to use my skates.
I made a ton of money on them.
And my other invention, a special place for using my skates.
Smarty Pants, can you guess what that special place James Plimpton created is?
Did you say a roller skating rink?
My roller rinks made roller skating popular all over the United States and Europe, too.
Around that time, the toe stop was invented, which made braking on roller skates even easier.
Roller skating became safer and more fun for the whole family .arsh Klimpton became the roller skating king and inline skates were long forgotten.
Roller skating's popularity came and went over the years with the sport hitting another peak decades later.
Smarty Pants, do you know when this so -called roller revolution happened?
Is it A, the 1950s?
The 1970s or see the 1990s here's a hint If you guessed the 1970s, you're right With the rise of disco music millions of young people wore their bell -bottom pants Polyester party clothes and tie -dye shirts two roller rings where they could roller boogie to disco music all night long Oh, yeah, I'm grooving now I'm OK." But by the end of the 70s, something funny happened.
What was very old became new again.
Two hockey -playing brothers named Scott and Brennen Olufsen found an old pair of inline skates, like the kind invented by Joseph Merlin.
Yeah, that guy. The Olufsen brothers redesigned these old skates adding modern wheels, lightweight materials, and brakes that made them easier to control, and much faster than regular skates.
They were sold through a new company the brothers created.
Smarty Pants, can you guess its name?
Is it A, Nike, B, speedy, or C, Rollerblade?
If you guessed Rollerblade, you're right.
By the 1990s, inline skating, now often called rollerblading, had finally become the huge hit Joseph Merlin dreamed it would be in the 1700s.
Told ya. But do people still crash?
Sure. From time to time.
But now there's protective gear.
And these better designed skates allow skaters to better control their speed.
Yes, well, I still wouldn't advise skating in front of a $100 ,000 mirror.
Speaking of speed, just how fast do these new inline skates go?
Smarty pants, do you know?
I'll tell you the record speed right after this quick break.
Have you ever had that moment where your kiddo looks up at you from the kitchen table, frustrated, stuck on their homework, and you want so badly to help them, but you just can't?
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Okay, let's be honest, life is a lot right now Between school drop offs, back to back meetings, half folded laundry and texts you forgot to reply to, who has time to launch that business idea that's been living in your notes app since 2021.
Especially with that one thing standing between you and finally getting your business out into the world, a website.
That part always feels like a brick wall.
You want it to look professional, you want it to work and you don't want to spend a lot of money on it.
That's why I'm telling you, use Squarespace.
With Squarespace, it's as easy as, tell it what your idea is, pick a style you love, boom, website.
They've got tools for selling, scheduling, newsletters, online stores, all of it.
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Three months from now, don't let the reason you still haven't launched your business be but the website.
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This is the sign for you to build yours.
Go to squarespace .com slash smarted and use code smarted for a free trial and 10 % off your first purchase of a website or domain.
You don't need more time, you just need the right tool.
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Prepare for launch. Ready everybody?
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Okay. Get ready to fly.
Three, two, one. Whoa!
So that's how my family started our Christmas vacation in the South Pacific.
Not exactly the way mom and dad planned it.
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Mom, dad, this island, it's not on the map.
Now, back to who smartied.
Smarty pants, if you go roller skating these days, Chances are you're not at a roller skating rink, and you might even own your own skates.
What? That's crazy.
When the pandemic hit, stores sold out of skates as people looked for activities to do outside in their neighborhood, school yard or local park.
Social media like Instagram and TikTok have also fueled the latest skating craze.
And skating is not just fun, it's healthy!
Roller skating gives the muscles in your hips and legs a great workout as well as your abs, arms, and buttocks.
What about basketball?
Skating burns calories, improves flexibility, and is good for your heart.
Yes, but is it safe?
I spent a week in zeros but the last time I was in skating.
Smartypants, which of these sports do you think sends more people to the emergency room than roller skating?
Football, basketball, soccer, or cycling?
The answer is… all of them.
And some reports say you're more likely to be injured playing at a playground than on a pair of skates.
So, the benefits seem to outweigh the risks.
But didn't you say crashes happen, perhaps into a very expensive mirror?
Yes, crashes do happen, which is why you need to be prepared.
Wrist guards, elbow pads, knee pads, and most importantly, a helmet...
are a must. Also, you need to be careful where you skate.
Stick to nice, flat, even pavement.
And just know, if you go downhill, you're going to move faster and you could lose control.
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!
I'm OK. Yikes. I was just racing across a crowded ballroom.
How fast can you go downhill?
Well, on level ground, the average person can skate about 8 to 16 miles per hour.
hour, which puts you around the speed of a running squirrel.
If you go downhill, though, things change.
Smartypants, guess what the record is for inline skating downhill?
Is it a, 30 miles per hour, b, 40 miles per hour, or c, 55 miles per hour?
Well, the record set in Brazil in 2016 is a whopping 77 .47 miles per hour.
That's nearly 125 kilometers per hour.
That's faster than most highway speed limits.
Pull over. Oh, crashing at that speed wouldn't feel good.
No doubt, but chances are you'll never go that fast. Just remember to stay safe and have fun.
Well, I'm ready to give these new roller blades a try.
Here I go! Hey, this is fun!
I can turn and slow down and, whoa, whoa, whoa!
I'm OK. But my violin!
Oh yeah, smarty pants, when you roller skate leave your violin at home.
Take a minute now and leave us a five -star Apple review.
You might hear it on the show.
And don't forget you can listen to who smarted anywhere including Apple podcasts, Spotify and Amazon music including hands -free listening powered by Alexa on all Apple, Android and Echo devices.
A Super Smarty shout out to Carver in Denver, who loves listening to Who Smarted before bed and then sharing the fun facts the next day at breakfast. How cool is that?
This episode, Roller Skating, was written by Dave Rollerboogie Beaudry and voiced by Taya Get Down Garland, Max Cool Moves Kamaski, Adam Blades Davis, and Jerry Kilmer.
Technical direction and sound design by Josh Helmet Hahn.
Who Smarted is recorded and mixed at the Relic Room Studios.
Our Associate Producer is Max Kamaski.
The theme song is by Brian Tost -Bin Suarez, with lyrics written and performed by Adam Tex -Davis.
Who's Smarted was created and produced by Adam Tex -Davis and Jerry Colbert.
This has been an Atomic Entertainment Production.
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