"The ordinary, or high-wheeled bicycle with the large wheel in front, was especially hazardous, as the rider was in danger of taking... a "header" [headlong fall] whenever the front wheel struck an obstruction... To circumvent this... a bicycle with the large wheel in the rear was devised. ...[K]nown as a Star, its popularity never approached that of the ordinary."
January 1, 1970
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Catalog_of_the_Cycle_Collection_(Smithsonian_Bulletin_204)