I’m going to share what I know about Bessler’s wheel and the design I’m building. I will post the same on my blog as on the Besslerwheel forum, but the drawings and photos may be more accessible on the blog, but I’ll do my best to get them on both.
I’ve called the thread ‘‘Bessler Collins Gravity Wheel’ because it is based on my interpretations of the many Bessler clues, codes and hints he left. I believe that the design is entirely his, hence his name first in the title of this thread, but my name is there too because these are my interpretations of the information I extracted from his works. My wheel is not finished because there are difficulties in getting mechanisms perfect but I believe the theory is correct. I hope there will be several attempts to simulate what I post here.
This is a brief explanation of some clues and where they are. It has proved impractical to get this all down in one post but I will provide more detail as soon as I can get it written. I will now describe some of the actions and mechanisms involved but I haven’t got the pictures ready yet, but will post them as soon as I can. I’ve added some at the end of this post which should go some way to supporting my claim to have found the secret of Bessler’s wheel.
In my blog on 4th November 2013 I posted my belief that all the information needed was to be found in the six drawings to be found in Bessler’s works Das Triumphirende (DT) and Gruendlicher Bericht (GT). If you search my blog for word ‘drawings’ you will find more of the same information which I’m going to post here.
First I believe that the ‘T’ shaped pendulum shown in Bessler’s (DT) and (GT) is in fact ‘L’ shaped. The two long arms of the pendulum show the starting and finishing positions of its range of action, but more on that later.
The wheel has a pentagram drawn on a disc or backplate to which everything is attached. The five segments of the pentagram each contain one mechanism and its complete range of movement. Although all the five mechanisms operate independently there are always two mechanisms working together.
The following description assumes that the wheel will turn clockwise. I include a colour reference to each lever for ease of reference for when the new pictures are posted.
Each mechanism includes two main levers and each has a weight on its end. All the weights are of equal mass. One lever, which I call the (red) initiator lever, is the one which starts the action. It could be thought of as the prime mover. Each lever’s pivot is positioned on a radius line.
The (red) initiator lever pivots roughly half way along the radius when the radius is at the six o’clock position. The exact position of the pivot is simple to calculate from the information which follows.
It falls 90 degrees from a position approximately 18 degrees to the right of the vertical six o’clock radius line. It lands close to the rim of the wheel, at an angle sloping downwards about 18 degrees.
The second lever in each mechanism, which I cleverly refer to as the (blue) ‘secondary’ lever, is attached to a pivot on the same six o’clock radius but it is positioned just below the centre of rotation (CoR). This (blue) lever is the longest one, stretching all the way to the rim. It’s weight is attached to the end of the (blue) lever. When the (red) initiator lever falls it pushes the (blue) secondary lever and its weight, 30 degrees to the right from its position which also starts 18 degrees to the right from the vertical radius.
The (red) initiator lever is ‘L’ shaped, having a short stub for the short leg. It’s pivoting point lies at the junction of the two arms of the ‘L’. When the (red) initiator lever falls, it pulls a cord which is attached to the short leg. This cord runs around two pulleys and its other end is attached near the end of the (blue) secondary lever in the preceding mechanism. The (red) initiator lever lifts the (blue) secondary lever in the preceding mechanism 30 degrees by pulling on the cord. This moves the weight at the end of the (blue) secondary lever upwards and clockwise from a horizontal position 15 degrees below the CoR to a horizontal position 15 degrees above the CoR.
This lift reverses the action caused by the (red) initiator lever currently at the six o’clock position which pushes its own (blue) secondary lever anti-clockwise.
The clues which provided some of this information are all in the first drawing in (DT) and (GT). There are other helpful drawings which are in DT and in the Toys page in Maschinen Tractate (MT).
One of the written clues came from Apologia Poetica (AP) known as “The great craftsman” passage. This is a heavily abbreviated version of what I published on my blog back in November 2017. The omitted pieces are indicated by several dots or periods.
“What follows is my interpretation of the “great craftsman phrase”. In his Apologia Poetica, Bessler included many clues…..
He wrote, “a great craftsman would be he who, as one pound falls a quarter, causes four pounds to shoot upwards four quarters.” …….
Note that within the quote he mentions that there are five weights, one plus four, and each one is equal to one pound. Secondly, one pound falls a quarter. How do we define what he meant by a quarter? In this case he was referring to a clock - something he also included in the first drawings in both Grundlicher Bericht and Das Triumphirende - and a quarter of an hour or fifteen minutes covers 90 degrees…..
We saw in the first part that the word ‘quarter', referred to, not just 90 degrees but also to a clock. In the second part the word ‘quarter' also refers to a clock but this time he has confused us by using the words ‘four quarters’. ‘Four quarter’s equals ‘one whole hour’. Each hour on a clock is divided into 30 degrees, so the words ‘four quarters’ meaning ‘one hour’ as used here equals thirty degrees. To paraphrase Bessler’s words, “a great craftsman would be he who, as one pound falls 90 degrees, causes each of the other four pounds to shoot upwards 30 degrees.”
You might also think it would have been better to have said that “one pound falls 90 degrees, causes one pound to shoot upwards 30 degrees”, but that would have removed the information that five weights, and therefore five mechanisms were involved, so it had to be four weights plus the one.
This 90 degree fall by the (red) initiator lever generates enough mechanical energy to drive three actions. The first one causes the wheel to rotate 30 degrees; the second one moves the (blue) secondary lever 30 degrees anti-clockwise; the third one lifts the (blue) secondary lever in the preceding mechanism up 30 degrees. The cost in mechanical advantage is spread unevenly between the three actions. Clearly the swift lift is the most expensive.
These actions break the symmetry which has always prevented a successful reconstruction of Bessler’s wheel.
More information, clue interpretations and drawings to follow asap …. hopefully. Here are some illustrations to help the above explanation, BUT this is only half the picture!
JC
Copyright © 2020 John Collins.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteGot to disagree with you Stephen, but I guess time will tell.
DeleteJC
Dear Sir John.
DeleteFirst of all, congratulations on your courage to publish your own project. This is your great achievement.
I see you followed Bessler's clue from his portrait which also shows a candle.
I believe that this trend has been explored in the past and that nobody has managed to light a candle unless it served a different purpose.
Stephen is right about one thing that you haven't found the MOTION yet, but the direction you have taken may lead to it, I totally agree with you.
I want to say two more things to you.
I admire you for your great patience and persistence in gathering all knowledge on this subject.
Once upon a time I heard the wise saying "there is more happiness in giving than there is in receiving" and let that be a good leaven.
If God permits, I will write.
I’m struck dumb! I have no idea what you are talking about, candle? What candle. I have no use for clues in the portrait, as far as I’m concerned there are none. Thank you for your comment...I think?
DeleteJC
I assure you the candle.
DeleteYes, a candle waiting to be lit.
Indeed, you haven't noticed her in the portrait without the book so far?
Best regards.
Exactly.
DeleteOf course, I mean a candlestick to which you bring yourself, put it in the candlestick and light it.
I'm sorry that the translations are inaccurate.
Best regards.
Thank you, but I’m no nearer understanding, but please don’t try to explain. JC
DeleteThanks for finally revealing your design, John, although only your last image actually shows some of it. You don't show the pulleys and cords that interconnect the red and blue levers though (did you give up on actual mechanical linkages? If so, I don't blame you!). That will be necessary for those who want to sim your wheel. I think it will be fairly easy to sim. An actual photo of your wheel would have been better. If it keeps the center of gravity of its ten weights on the descending side of the wheel as it turns, then it's a runner. If not, then the situation will be less hopeful.
DeleteSome above seem to think that there was a candle in the DT portraits. There are many clues in them but no candles. I think they have mistaken that object on the shop table's right end in the second portrait for a candle. It's actually a small device called a "screw barrel microscope" which was focused by screwing a metal cylinder containing its two lenses in and out to adjust their distance from some specimen being viewed. They were invented in the mid-17th century and allowed one to examine small items placed on a flat surface. Bessler accumulated a lot of scientific gadgets and would have owned one (maybe Karl gave it to him). I think he put that little microscope there to signal the reader that he needed to study the items at that end of the table carefully for clues.
Looks like SG and SK above made their appearances and, once again, continue to tell John that his wheel has nothing to do with the one Bessler made. They write like they actually KNOW with certainty how his wheels worked and so can make their criticisms with complete authority. But, other than criticizing John, they never show us anything to support their claims. Oh, I forgot, it's a big secret that they are not ready to reveal to humanity yet because we're not spiritually ready for such advanced knowledge. They, of course, ARE ready. Lol!
DeleteI congratulate John for finally making disclosure. I just wish he'd done it earlier. But as they say "Better late than never".
John,
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on your life’s work. Truly. In addition to your (obviously) fine family and a career in sales engineering, your body of work related to Bessler is awe inspiring. Whether or not you have discovered his/the secret is secondary to what you have undisputedly ALREADY achieved. You have inspired many. Well done sir!
More than 30 years ago, I began tinkering with PM designs with the FULL belief that PM is NOT possible. After creating a design, I would work out the math that proved it would not work. I found this stimulating for decades. About 10 years ago, I discovered your work on the web. I had never heard of Bessler before. Given the historical accounts, particularly the words and actions of Karl, I cannot rid myself of the (sometimes excruciating) belief of “maybe”.
It took great courage and tenacity to continue this long pursuit publicly. To put all your cards on the table today, before final evidence of victory, is especially admirable. Regardless of where all this leads, this is possibly your finest hour.
Cheers John .. I can't believe how quickly some people are to be critical, less than 24 hours. I guess I should have expected that. People are flawed. N.B. note that SG doesn't rush to explain his concept which he previously said was a small adjustment to Calloway's main pendulum and glove design over at BW.com. He prefers instead to throw barbs your way, even when your story is not yet complete. I now expect KB to put up links to his wheel lol.
ReplyDeleteJohn Collins Wrote : "BUT this is only half the picture!"
I look forward to the other half of the picture in due course.
When I have the whole picture then I will be in a position to perhaps attempt a sim and comment on your concept etc.
I also second the encouraging comments you have so far received. It takes courage and effort to detail and write everything up and publish it openly.
All The Best -fletcher
fletcher wrote: "I can't believe how quickly some people are to be critical, less than 24 hours. I guess I should have expected that. People are flawed."
DeleteBessler had this to say about those mocking his wheels (see page 245 of JC's translation of AP):
"To the prejudiced and blasphemous enemy:
Dear Enemy - please continue to think that it is your duty to lampoon my work, because it leads in directions you may not wish it to go! You have the spirit of a slanderer. But Truth will triumph, and will reveal the confusion in your "thoughts". People of common sense have always been scorned, and it doesn't really matter who the scoundrels who perpetrate such untruths are, because, enemy, all you write comes from arrogance and envy and amounts to nothing more than slander and waste paper. Write as many lies as you like in your angry attempts to destroy my Wheel of Wonder! In its interior it gains - for how else does it grow out of balance?"
That phrase "In its interior is gains..." tells me that his design could raise the offset center of gravity of its weights just as fast as a turning wheel was trying to lower it so that the wheel always stayed out of balance and produced continuous torque.
Let's hope future sims show John's wheel doing the same thing.
I agree. There it is written for all to read.
Delete-f
If Bessler's wheels were able to make their CoG rise as fast as the wheel tried to lower it, then I don't see how Mr. Collins' shifting weights could do that. Wouldn't the blue weight in that last drawing he posted have to rise higher than the red weight drops? It looks like the blue weight only rises a fraction of how far the red weight drops. Am I missing something here?
DeleteBessler Curious
@Bessler Curious
DeleteJohn's last picture above only shows the red "initiator lever" causing the blue lever in its sector to swing through 30 degrees and rise. But, apparently that falling red lever also causes another blue lever in the sector leading it to also swing through 30 degrees and rise using some sort of pulley system. There's also another red lever two leading sectors away from the one shown which at the same time is again swinging through 90 degrees and falling toward the axle as it resets itself. It looks like that during every 72 degrees of wheel rotation there are always four weights undergoing vertical and horizontal motions simultaneously.
I agree with you that unless the vertical motions of all of these moving weights (all of which have equal mass) result in their combined center of gravity rising at the same rate that the rotating wheel is trying to lower it then I don't see how this wheel could keep itself continuously out of balance. But we can't really tell much about his design with only the info we now have. As more details appear the sims will also appear along with them and that will tell us what's really happening.
I keep asking myself if this could be the design that the count claimed was so simple that a carpenter's boy apprentice could understand and built it. Maybe so but I think he would have to be a very skilled boy!
@anon 01:38
DeleteI notice that all of the anonymous lurkers who were dropping in to heckle John have fallen silent now that he's finally disclosed his design to us. Those creeps really have nothing to contribute to blogs other than their ridicule of their members. I'm sure it gives they pleasure while it lasts. Now they've all crawled back under their rocks again and hopefully will stay there!
Thanks for the nice comments.
ReplyDeleteI am planning to post a photo of my wheel. I will need to smarten it up a bit but that can follow. I’m also trying to make a decent version of the design n paint, showing various positions along with the missing connections and the pulleys and cords.
JC
YES! Much congratulations for finally revealing something here! You've just broken that Mr. Lepard Spots 2029 Prophecy from last year into little pieces and scattered them to the four winds! My and a lot of others faith in you has now been fully restored!
DeleteYou mentioned that the wheel contains cords and pulleys and I know from bitter personal experience what a headache working with them can be. But, I agree you definitely need to post a photo of your wheel as it is now along with some ms paint drawings of the basic design. As soon as you do that the sims will come pouring in shortly after. This could be it. A final solution to the Bessler wheel mystery that's had us all tied up in knots for most of our lives!
John, does the red lever/weight fall back into place on it's own as the wheel rotates, or is it also forced into it's initial position by another falling red lever?
ReplyDeleteFollowing up on my previous 20:15 comment, I see from your 5 section drawing of the red levers, at step 4 the lever is reset, so I guess I am asking if the lever is released at that point, and it then swings down and slightly back up, and into position.
DeleteJohn,
ReplyDeleteWill you share what the “code” you used to share at the end of your blog unscrambles to?
10a2c5d26e15f6g7h10ik12l3m6n14o14r5s17tu6v5w4y4-3,’.
Is that the one he forgot how to decode?! It had 10 letter k's in it so it probably had something to do with the Estonian sport of kiiking. I don't think it has much to do with his just revealed wheel.
DeleteNo that is an old code he updated it to this new concept
DeleteHello John! Great to know you're going to start revealing your concept. As soon as I've enough information, I'll do what I've promised. If it turns out that your concept is the actual solution, then I sincerely grant you that it is you who found the solution. Because you have worked hard, very hard, for it. Take the time you need for posting additional information, as it would be for nothing if no one can fully understand your concept. And please try to ignore bad comments, because they're probably just an expression of resentment and it's a waste of time to deal with them. Thanks for sharing what you know.
ReplyDeleteCan somebody please explain how this so-called "new" wheel is any different from his last wheel?
ReplyDeleteI think he's changed the locations for the pivots on his levers and decided to switch over to using cords and pulleys to connect the levers together. We still need to see the details of the cords and pulleys.
DeleteThe overbalance (and potential energy) comes from the movements of the weights in the new design. If you are not fully versed in the new design, you can't make a judgement about its viability. JCs next release may provide more details on the connectivity (or connectedness principle).
DeleteI don't think John said. Does the wheel turn cw or ccw?
DeleteThe other half is missing that causes the coordinated movement - yet to come.
ReplyDeleteFrom the above post, “ The following description assumes that the wheel will turn clockwise”.
ReplyDeleteJC
I’m working hard making a complete diagram of the whole machine, but at 75 it takes me a little longer to finish it, but I will try and post it all in my next blog in a day or two.
ReplyDeleteJC
John, I have to say I am relieved that the wheel you are describing is nothing like what I have been working on for the last 10 years. I see no similarities in design or driving principle. Good for me as I do plan on patenting the prime mover mechanism. I believe my design could also replace the large turbine engines in power plants. It would be an attractive option for them knowing they can stop buying and burning coal, and switch to a non polluting, no cost energy source. Well onward, and best of luck with your efforts. I look forward to what comes next. You are the reason most if not all of us are still in the game.
ReplyDeleteI think that ultimately all of us including John are "still in the game" because Bessler proved it was possible to make a working pm wheel. That much we can be certain of. The next part of HOW he did that is where everyone goes off in a thousand different directions completely convinced he's finally heading in the right direction while everyone else is moving in wrong directions. Bessler's many vague clues assure that. They are just vague enough for every pm chaser to see them suggesting his particular approach to a solution.
DeleteAlthough they couldn't know it at the time, history would eventually show that all past pm seekers were headed in wrong directions that only led to disappointing dead ends. But eventually some new direction someone tries has to be the same one Bessler found success with. Let's hope it doesn't take another three hundred years (or even more!) to find. Let's hope John finally has chosen the right direction this time. The chase after pm can be a very mentally and physically exhausting one. It's time to end it. We need a working wheel!
John Collins, It looks bottom heavy to me; what am I missing------------------Sam
ReplyDeleteYour opinion might change when you see his wheel with all ten of its weights in place. I think he's working on that drawing now.
Deletejason
I wish John all the luck in the world, he certainly deserves to be the person that discovers the true Bessler Wheel.
ReplyDeleteI never would have thought that basic weight shifting would produce a runner, and I still don't, so there must be more that John is withholding.
"... so there must be more that John is withholding."
DeleteThe only thing he's withholding is a photo of his wheel and a drawing of it that will make the interaction of its levers easier to understand. Those are soon to be uploaded I think. He's already admitted what he now has does not run. That's either due to poor craftsmanship or to a wrong design because he misinterpreted his clues which might not really have been clues at all. He wouldn't be the first guy to fall victim to this weird mirage effect created by Bessler's drawings.
Sims can correct for a sloppy build and show how a design would run if it is the right one and was more accurately constructed. But they can't make a wrong design work. Doing that requires finding the changes needed to make the wrong design work and then making them which is a lot easier said than done. If that can't be done for some reason, then one has to face the unpleasant fact that all he has to show for all of his efforts is another hopeless nonrunner to add to his collection. We can only hope and pray that won't happen to John this time.
Agreed. Perhaps it has to do with the part that gave him so much trouble building accurately?
ReplyDeleteJust curious John, you have said that there aren't any clues in the portraits, I agree, but hypothetically speaking, what if there aren't any clues in the wheel drawings?
ReplyDeleteJustsomeone
I think that is a good point Justsomeone .. remembering that John has arrived at his design/concept from a deciphering of 'clues' he has hung his hat on. Most of us I would wager take a two prong approach. Look for a mechanical design or concept we think has a possibility to work and as we're scheming and building we think back to B's. writings and pictures (all available) and see if something jumps out at us that might confirm our directions.
ReplyDeleteIn John's case I think he built a concept from first finding the 'correct' clues. Whether they are correct or not, or even there, as for KB, is a matter of opinion. But of course if either builds a working wheel that can be linked directly to their interpretation of the 'correct' clues then those clues would indeed be correctly interpreted. That's why I wanted the whole picture of how JC arrived at his full design/concept, before I start any sims. In case I have to tweak something then I know I haven't strayed off John's track so to speak, or at least stuck close to it if faced with a choice. Apologies if I have that wrong but it is my understanding at this point.
-f
@JSO. Hopefully Ken B. doesn't read your comment or his head might explode! He is very insistent that there are literally dozens of previously unrecognized clues that Bessler purposely put into his two DT portraits and if one does not locate and correctly interpret all of them then he can never make an exact duplicate of one of Bessler's wheels. If one assumes Bessler's wheels are the only way to achieve pm (I don't) that would mean one can never make a working pm wheel without those clues. Ken claims that he finally did locate and correctly interpret those dozens of clues. Supposedly they are all treated at the end of his book. I have to admit when I hear something like that it gets my attention and I'll probably eventually get a download of his book to see what he's found.
ReplyDeleteHowever for all we know both John and Ken may have become obsessed with false interpretations of the "clues" they think they've found. If so then nothing real will ever come from their research. That would really be tragic considering the amount of work they put into solving the Bessler wheel. But it can serve to warn future Bessler pm wheel chasers what they are getting involved in.
Let me clarify the situation. My mechanisms are correctly designed or so I believe, but they don’t all work perfectly. Sometimes the parts catch on some rougher edge, which I then file down to remove the problem; some of the holes are not in exactly the right place due to numerous holes having been drilled nearby in previous adjustments. This leads to an imperfect action in the mechanism. Either it doesn’t travel far enough, or its starts or finishes too early or two late. All of this is due to my own poor workmanship, impatience and and generally being fed up with the whole project. The last two don’t last more than a few hours but the first one has led me to this point where I need help which is why I’m publishing my own ideas now.
ReplyDeleteJC
I have experienced the same problems in construction as yourself. Even a 1/2 millimeter out on a hole placement can sometimes lead to an unwanted twisting and binding of mechanisms when tolerances are critical. Using a jig to repeat make parts helps a lot in consistency. Or build digitally first.
DeleteJohn I feel for you. I have been going through some serious bouts of frustration so I decided some time ago to take time off from building, to just think and write about the mechanism. From time to time, insights come to me, and I am about to start up again. I must say you coming forward has given me incentive to push on.
ReplyDeleteJohn,
ReplyDeleteHeartfelt congratulations on you fortitude and courage for your study of Bessler’s materials and sharing of the design they led you to.
An observation regarding the design. I feel like the counter-clockwise movement you are applying to the secondary weight in the primary weight’s sectors would be much better applied to a secondary weight near the 12 o’clock position. I say this because it should come at no more and perhaps less energy cost.
No one's commented so far on the second and third of the four images you uploaded for this blog. I assume that they show clues that somehow justify the arrangement of levers we're seeing in the first and fourth images.
ReplyDeleteI found the third image showing the Kassel wheel's pendulum turned sideways and then superimposed over the left side wheel so its ball shaped weights at the ends of its top piece are outside the window to be particularly interesting. It's amazing how the two weights wind up exactly located on the rope going to the box of bricks. This alignment looks too prefect to me to be a coincidence. It must have been done deliberately by Bessler.
After measuring it with a protractor I found that the angle formed by the rope going over that pulley outside of the window is exactly 30 degrees. The angle between the two diagonals connected to that football shaped weight at the bottom of the pendulum is also exactly 30 degrees. Again seems it had to be done on purpose.
This could be more evidence to support that swing angle of 30 degree for the blue secondary levers in your design.
Bessler Curious
I wouldn't get too excited about those 30 degree angles that show up in Bessler's wheel drawings at this time. It could just be that he liked to work with angles in his drawings that were multiples of 15 degrees like 30, 45, 60, 75, and 90 degrees. That 30 degree angle might or might not have anything to do with the actual angles of any levers inside of his wheels. Come to think of it how do we even know that he used levers inside of his wheels? His weights could have been rolling or sliding around in some way for all we know. Maybe there were no levers inside of his wheels.
DeleteUpdate. By now everyone knows about the US' president Trump getting infected by COVID-19. He's now in the Walter Reed Hospital getting the latest high tech treatments for the infection which aren't available to the average citizen sick with the disease. In another 48 hours or so he will either get better or get worse.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, for people over 70 with other health issues, there's about a 10 to 12% or 1 in 10 to 1 in 8 chance of a COVID-19 infection putting them in the cemetery. They think he got infected two Saturdays ago at a White House event where a lot of people were crowded into a room of the building and in close contact without masks. Apparently, despite their "testing" for the virus that showed everyone (about 100 people) was negative, they were using rapid tests which are only about 97% accurate. Some infected people slipped through and infected Trump and his wife and who knows how many others there. So much for testing large groups of people. Since then he's been going along most likely infecting others who, to show their approval of his deliberately misleading message that COVID-19 wasn't really that serious, weren't wearing masks either. This is what happens when people take too casual an attitude to the virus. We may all have "covid fatigue", but the virus doesn't have human fatigue! It will be interesting to see if Trump's dangerous and reckless philosophy of downplaying the virus changes when he's out of the hospital. Many are beginning to suspect that they are downplaying exactly how sick he really is. Playing this game with the American people with regard to the health of a US President wouldn't be anything new. Back in 1919 US President Woodrow Wilson suffered a major stroke that paralyzed one side of his body, but the public never knew about it at the time!
In the US people arrive daily to see the president and are only given a quick rapid test before doing so. Over in Russia someone has to stay quarantined for two weeks before being allowed to meet with Putin. Then, as they go to see him at the Kremlin, they have to walk through a "disinfectant tunnel" which sprays them with a disinfectant mist just before the actual personal meeting.
There was some research group that claims the actual number of people that COVID-19 has killed in the US is much higher than the current "official" number of over 200,000. They claim it could actually be over 300,000! By the end of this year it could exceed 500,000 which then equals the deaths caused by the Spanish Flu of 1918 where people were more likely to die because they weren't getting supplemental oxygen therapy. Btw, many think that the pandemic of 1918 started in Spain. No. They were only the first to announce it. It had started months earlier in other parts of Europe and was brought to the US by returning WWI soldiers.
Currently slightly less than 50% of Americans are still not wearing their masks and social distancing. They still haven't gotten the message that COVID-19 is SERIOUS and can kill a person of ANY age as the increasing number of young people who are dying from it proves. Until we get this virus under control, we won't be able to bring our economy fully back to normal again. More and more people are becoming dependent on a government stipend to survive as the national debt continues to increase. Congress continues to play partisan games instead of passing legislation to get the money to people. The US airline industry has been devastated and just announced they will be laying off 32,000 people and their pilots will be next. Trump continues to tell everyone that we are "turning the corner" on the pandemic. Few believe anything he says now when it comes to the virus.
Anonymous and PROUD of it!