According to archaeologists, the wheel was probably invented around 8,000 B.C in Asia but the oldest wheel as we know it dates back to Mesopotamia in 3,500 B.C. The invention of the wheel leading to today's caster wheel Chicago, Illinois can be broken down into six stages:

Industrial Casters And Wheels

1) Objects were placed on a roller similar to a log, used to roll heavy objects easier.
2) Then they placed runners like a sled, under a heavy load to drag it and this was called, a sledge.
3) Later, the sledge and the roller were combined to move objects farther by alternating one roller with a second roller and repeating the process as they moved an object forward.
4) As the sledge runners wore grooves into the rollers, men realized that the grooves helped to move the load a greater distance before the next roller was needed.
5) Eventually, the rollers were changed into wheels and in the process, the wood between the grooves of the roller were cut away to form an axle and wooden pegs were fastened to the runners on each side of the axle. When the wheels turned, the axle turned in the space between the pegs and the first cart was invented.
6) The cart's axle and wheels were made to move separately and by 2000 B.C. the Egyptians made chariots with spokes in the wheels.

Industrial Casters And Wheels

Of course today the wheel has undergone drastic transformation from a simple wooden wheel to wheels of various sizes and various materials to move loads from Point A to Point B.

Who Invented the Wheel?

Industrial Casters And Wheels