On this day in 1662 the first minibus departed

The idea of ​​urban passenger carriages that follow a specific route is as simple as it is brilliant, so it is not surprising that the great French philosopher and scientist of the 17th century Blaise Pascal, who already has plenty of merits to humanity, attributes it to himself.

According to Pascal, it was he who gave the idea of ​​the first public urban transport to the Duke de Rohan, who founded a corresponding joint-stock company, and the first omnibus drove through Paris on March 18, 1662.

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However, in reality, the omnibus only became widespread at the beginning of the 19th century, when in Nantes, France, a multi-seat horse-drawn carriage started from a clothing store with a sign Omnes Omnibus, which is where the expression "to take the omnibus" supposedly comes from.

In fact, since Omnibus in Latin means "to all, for all, for everyone", this word could be suitable for public passenger transport starting from any place. And, of course, the British claim that this type of transport began to operate in Manchester two years earlier than in Nantes, France.

As for the social aspect of the emergence of the omnibus, it was very large for its time - for the first time, representatives of different classes of urban society and different sexes were forced to be literally pressed against each other. So the omnibus, so to speak, "introduced democracy in fact".

Omnibuses have hardly entered literature and cinema - unlike their relatives, stagecoaches (the same omnibuses, but intercity), thanks to which a special "subsection" of the western genre even emerged in the USA. Incidentally, the most famous western of all time, which made its director John Ford an American film classic, is called "Stagecoach".

Фото: Wikipeda