Arguably the most important advances in the realistic use of roller skates as a pleasurable hobby or pastime took place in Birmingham, England in 1876 when William Bown patented a design for the wheels of roller skates which embodied his effort to keep the two bearing surfaces of an axle, fixed and moving, apart. Bown worked closely with Joseph Henry Hughes who drew up the patent for a ball or roller bearing race for bicycle and carriage wheels which includes all the elements of an adjustable system in 1877. These two men are thus responsible for the modern day roller skate and skate board wheels as well as the ball bearing race inclusion in velocipedes later to become motorbikes and automobiles.

By the 1880s roller skating had become a popular pastime. The design of the quad skate has remained essentially unchanged since then, and in fact remained as the dominant roller skate design for one hundred forty years.

ADDENDUM: The "!!!" button to the left is now functional. That is all.