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Sunday 9 November 2014

Dunlop Rubber Company

John Boyd Dunlop was born on a farm in Dreghorn, North Ayrshire in Scotland on February 5, 1840.

Dunlop studied to be a veterinary surgeon at the Dick Vet, University of Edinburgh, a profession he pursued for nearly ten years at home, before moving to Downpatrick, Ireland, in 1867.


Dunlop established Downe Veterinary Clinic in Downpatrick with his brother James Dunlop before moving to a practice in 38-42 May Street, Belfast.

In 1887 Dunlop came up with pneumatic tires to stop his son getting headaches from riding his bumpy tricycle.

The first advertisement for a ‘Dunlop Pneumatic Tyre’ appeared in the Irish Cyclist on December 18, 1888.

On May 18, 1889 a cyclist using the 'Dunlop Pneumatic Tyres' won a race in Belfast and the pneumatic cycle tire was on its way.

Dunlop's development of the pneumatic tire arrived at a crucial time in the development of road transport. Commercial production began in late 1890 in Belfast.
Dunlop on a bicycle c. 1915

Dunlop assigned his patent to William Harvey Du Cros, in return for 1,500 shares in the resultant company.

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 1845, but it was deemed too expensive to mass-produce.

His company, formed in 1889, became known as the Dunlop Rubber Co in 1900. The company manufactured its first motor car tire the same year.


In 1948 Dunlop invented the self-sealing tire, which reduced the risk from blowouts.

The Dunlop-developed disc brakes that helped Jaguar to win the Le Mans 24 Hour race in 1953 were referred to in the press of the time as "plate brakes". The term "discs" came later.

The decline of the British car manufacturing industry from 1972 onwards also impacted the core Dunlop business. After taking on excessive debt was acquired by the industrial conglomerate BTR in 1985

The brand is now used for many other products either derived from rubber or with a looser connection to rubber.

Source Wikipedia

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