The wheel is one of the most fundamental inventions used in everyday life. The first wheel initiated the development of transport and various industrial mechanisms. If it there was not possibility to attach the platform to the wheel by means of an axle, the wheel would simply be a rotating cylinder. The first attempts to do this for moving heavy objects were made in ancient Egypt but were not developed as a method of transportation.

It is believed that this ancient device together with the first two- and four-wheeled carts appeared in Mesopotamia around 4500 - 3000 BC. The proof is the clay plates of Sumerians with images of wheeled vehicles. The oldest archeological finding of a wooden wheel was made in Ljubljana (Slovenia) and dates from 3200 BC.

The design of the original carts had a rigid wheel attachment to the axle, which caused them to rotate with it. This device was convenient when driving a car on a straight road, but on corners where the wheels rotate at different speeds, the heavily loaded cart could break or turn over. The wheels were cut from a whole tree trunk, making the wheels and carts very heavy. To move the carts animals were harnessed. A cart with such wheels was found during excavations in the ancient Indian city of Mahejo-daro.