Last season on Copper, we got a good look at the way 1860s New Yorkers lived. We discovered their fashion, pastimes, slang, and gruesome water cooler talk. Lately, New Yorkers have been spending their time loving—and hating—Citi Bike and everything it brings to the table. But that obsession with the bicycle dates all the way back to its invention in the 19th century and, later, the Golden Age of Bicycles.

Those early bikes were dangerous and not for the faint of heart; Corcoran, Copper's crimefighting, underground boxer protagonist, definitely would have been the type to toy around on a 70-pound pennyfarthing after a few too many. But later developments in the contraption finally made bicycles safe, accessible, and a ubiquitous part of American culture. Here are five lesser-known contributions the bicycle has made to our lives today.

THE DEATH OF THE CORSET

By the late 1800s, women were starting to enjoy increasing liberties through an unlikely source. The bicycle's increasing practicality meant that a woman was finally able to travel for a job if she had one, shop on her own, and generally be independent from the short radius around her house for the first time.

This 1897 woman wears pant-like bloomers, which probably made her the target of much ridicule. (via Library of Congress)