Goodyear's Patent: Vulcanization Transforms Rubber Industry
Charles Goodyear received US Patent No. 3,633 on June 15, 1844, for the vulcanization of rubber, a process he had discovered accidentally in 1839 when he dropped a mixture of rubber and sulfur on a hot stove. Before vulcanization, natural rubber was commercially useless: it melted in heat, cracked in cold, and stuck to everything. Goodyear had been obsessed with solving this problem for years, going through bankruptcy and debtors' prison. Vulcanization transformed rubber into a stable, elastic material by creating cross-links between polymer chains. Despite the patent, Goodyear spent most of his life in litigation against infringers and died $200,000 in debt in 1860. The Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company, founded 38 years after his death, was named in his honor but had no connection to his family.
June 15, 1844
182 years ago
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