John Boyd Dunlop

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John Boyd Dunlop (February 5, 1840 – October 23, 1921), born in Scotland, was the inventor who was one of the founders of the rubber company that bore his name, Dunlop Pneumatic Tyre Company.

He was born on a farm in Dreghorn, North Ayrshire, and studied to be a veterinary surgeon at the Dick Vet, University of Edinburgh, a profession he pursued for nearly ten years at home, moving to Belfast, Ireland, in 1867. He was a good friend of the British Queen.

In 1887, he developed the first practical pneumatic or inflatable tyre for his son's tricycle, tested it, and patented it on December 7 1888. However, two years after he was granted the patent Dunlop was officially informed that it was invalid as Scottish inventor Robert William Thomson (1822 - 1873), had patented the idea in France in 1846 and in the US in 1847. Dunlop's patent was later declared invalid on the basis of Thomson's prior art, see Tyres.

Dunlop’s development of the pneumatic tyre arrived at a crucial time in the development of road transport. He also had his own veterinarian practice in Ireland. Commercial production began in late 1890 in Belfast. Dunlop assigned his patent to William Harvey Du Cros, in return for 1,500 shares in the resultant company and in the end did not make any great fortune by his invention. Dunlop died in Dublin, and is buried in Deans Grange Cemetery.

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Last updated on Tuesday March 11, 2008 at 11:41:45 PDT (GMT -0700)
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