John Joseph Merlin was an inventor who created roller skates. He had an eccentric self-expression and dressed flamboyantly as well as using skating to express himself further. After designing the first roller skates in the 1760s, he decided to try and skate through a masquerade party while playing a violin but, due to the lack of brakes on the skates as well as his lack of balance, he ended up crashing and sustaining some pretty serious injuries.