Karl von Drais presents on 12 June 1817 in Mannheim the Laufmaschine — also called the Draisine or draisienne — a two-wheeled, pedal-less vehicle propelled by the rider's alternating foot movements. Drais patents the invention in Baden in 1818. It is the first dynamically balanced two-wheeled vehicle in history and the direct antecedent of the modern bicycle. The context of its invention is relevant: the 1815 eruption of Tambora destroyed harvests in Europe, causing mass death of draft horses; Drais sought a substitute requiring no animal feed.