Roller skates are shoes with four wheels in a rectangular configuration, like car wheels, allowing for stability and balance. They were popular in the 1970s and provided a full-body aerobic workout, burning significant calories per hour. James Plimpton's 1863 design improved on earlier skates by including two sets of parallel wheels under the foot and heel, enabling easier turning. Roller skating evolved into a competitive sport including roller hockey. Rollerblades/inline skates have three to five inline wheels for increased speed and a design meant to mimic ice skating, though with less stability than roller skates.

2. What is roller skates ?
Roller skates are devices worn on the
feet to enable the wearer to roll along
on wheels. A first basic type of roller
skate consists of a boot with four
wheels with ball bearings, arranged in
the same configuration as the wheels
of a typical car. The Roller Skating
Association’s web page offers some
health benefits of roller skating. Some
of these benefits include providing a
complete aerobic workout and
burning 350 calories per hour while
skating 6 miles per hour or 600 calories
while skating 10 miles per hour. In the
1980s roller-skating as aerobic
exercise flourished briefly. Marine
Bjornson's 1988 exercise video "Roller
Burn" combined roller-skating with Tai
Chi moves. Roller skating is equivalent
to jogging in terms of health benefits.
The American Heart Association
recommends roller skating as an
aerobic fitness sport.

3. Roller skates were very popular with
children in the 1970s, and were a cultural
phenomenon in alternative areas like
roller rinks and roller derbies for the more
extreme ones. The first patented roller
skate was introduced in 1760. In
Holland, an unknown Dutchman decided
to go ice skating in the summer, ice
skating was the widespread method used
in the Netherlands to travel the numerous
frozen canals in winter. The unknown
inventor accomplished dry land skating
by nailing wooden spools to strips of wood
and attaching them to his shoes. After a
London instrument maker and
inventor, Joseph Merlin, attended a
masquerade party wearing one of his
new inventions, metal-wheeled boots..

4. In 1863,American, James Plimpton
found a way to make a very useable
pair of skates. Plimpton's skates had
two parallel sets of wheels, one pair
under the ball of the foot and the
other pair under the heel. The four
wheels were made of boxwood and
worked on rubber springs. Plimpton's
design was the first dry-land skate
that could maneuver in a smooth
curve. This is considered to be the
birth of the modern four-wheeled
roller skates, which allowed for turns
and the ability to skate backwards.
This was an improvement on the
roller skate that allowed skaters to
turn easily around corners. This
invention opened the door for the
masses to enjoy roller skating.
Eventually, roller skating evolved from
just a pastime to a competitive
sport, beginning with roller hockey.

5. What is the Difference Between Roller Skates and Roller Blades?
Roller blade wheels are
aligned on the middle of
the foot, from the heel to
the toe, in a straight line of
three, four or five wheels.
The Roller blades, also called in-line
skates, have wheels geared for speed. The
straight design of in-line skates also allows for
quicker turning. Their design was meant to
mimic ice skating, and the less stable design
with taller,
Roller blade stoppers are rectangular and
generally positioned at the rear of the
skate, near the heel. To stop on roller
blades, the wearer simply has to do the
opposite of roller skates: lift the toes and slant
the heel into the ground until the stopper
meets the surface of the floor or ground.
Roller skate stoppers are round
and positioned on the front of
the shoe, at the toe. These
stoppers require the skaters to
raise their heels and tip their
toes forward to stop.
The four wheels on roller
skates are in position for the
best stability, balance and
they are thick wheels shaped
like car tires.
Roller skates utilize four
corners of wheels on the
bottom of the
skate, much like the
wheels on a car.
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6. This sport became so
popular that it even
made an
appearance in the
Olympics in 1992.
Roller Skating was
considered as an
event at the 2012
Summer Olympics .
I like both sports but
rollerblading is my
favorite one. I enjoy
rollerblading in my
free time and people
say I’m good at it.