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First treadmill invented as punishment for people who are incarcerated.

1818

PIC

Called the "penal" or "prison" "treadmill," or "treadwheel," it is invented to force hard labor on incarcerated people. The intent is to force suffering and sweat as a form of penance. Invented in England, the treadmill comes to U.S. prisons a few short years later, eventually to be discontinued within a generation.

In the early 1900s, the design will be picked up again and marketed as a training machine. It is now the top-selling piece of exercise equipment in the United States.