Vulcanization

In the 1830s, [[Charles Goodyear]] worked to devise a process for strengthening rubber tires. Tires of the time would become soft and sticky with heat, accumulating road debris that punctured them. Goodyear tried heating rubber in order to mix other chemicals with it. This seemed to harden and improve the rubber, though this was due to the heating itself and not the chemicals used. Not realizing this, he repeatedly ran into setbacks when his announced hardening formulas did not work consistently. One day in 1839, when trying to mix rubber with [[sulfur]], Goodyear accidentally dropped the mixture in a hot frying pan. To his astonishment, instead of [[melting]] further or [[vaporization|vaporizing]], the rubber remained firm and, as he increased the heat, the rubber became harder. Goodyear worked out a consistent system for this hardening, and by 1844 patented the process and was producing the rubber on an industrial scale.{{cite web |url=https://connecticuthistory.org/charles-goodyear-and-the-vulcanization-of-rubber/ |title=Charles Goodyear and the Vulcanization of Rubber |last=Somma |first=Ann Marie |year=2012 |website=Connecticut History.org |access-date=February 26, 2026 |quote=According to biographers, while working at the Eagle India Rubber Company, Goodyear accidentally combined rubber and sulfur upon a hot stove. Much to Goodyear's surprise, the rubber didn't melt. And, when he raised the heat, it actually hardened.}}

In the 1830s, [[Charles Goodyear]] worked to devise a process for strengthening rubber tires. Tires of the time would become soft and sticky with heat, accumulating road debris that punctured them. Goodyear tried heating rubber in order to mix other chemicals with it. This seemed to harden and improve the rubber, though this was due to the heating itself and not the chemicals used. Not realizing this, he repeatedly ran into setbacks when his announced hardening formulas did not work consistently. One day in 1839, when trying to mix rubber with [[sulfur]], Goodyear accidentally dropped the mixture in a hot frying pan. To his astonishment, instead of [[melting]] further or [[vaporization|vaporizing]], the rubber remained firm and, as he increased the heat, the rubber became harder. Goodyear worked out a consistent system for this hardening, and by 1844 patented the process and was producing the rubber on an industrial scale.{{cite web |url=https://connecticuthistory.org/charles-goodyear-and-the-vulcanization-of-rubber/ |title=Charles Goodyear and the Vulcanization of Rubber |last=Somma |first=Ann Marie |year=2012 |website=Connecticut History.org |access-date=February 26, 2026 |quote=According to biographers, while working at the Eagle India Rubber Company, Goodyear accidentally combined rubber and sulfur upon a hot stove. Much to Goodyear's surprise, the rubber didn't melt. And, when he raised the heat, it actually hardened.}}

On 21 November 1843, British inventor, [[Thomas Hancock (inventor)#Vulcanisation|Thomas Hancock]] took out a patent for the vulcanization of rubber using sulfur, eight weeks before Charles Goodyear did the same in the US (30 January 1844). Accounts differ as to whether Hancock's patent was informed by inspecting samples of American rubber from Goodyear and whether inspecting such samples could have provided information sufficient to recreate Goodyear's process.

On 21 November 1843, British inventor, [[Thomas Hancock (inventor)#Vulcanisation|Thomas Hancock]] took out a patent for the vulcanization of rubber using sulfur, eight weeks before Charles Goodyear did the same in the US (30 January 1844). Accounts differ as to whether Hancock's patent was informed by inspecting samples of American rubber from Goodyear and whether inspecting such samples could have provided information sufficient to recreate Goodyear's process.{{Cite book |last=Slack |first=Charles |author-link= |url=http://archive.org/details/nobleobsessionch0000char |title=Noble Obsession: Charles Goodyear, Thomas Hancock, and the Race to Unlock the Greatest Industrial Secret of the Nineteenth Century |date=13 August 2003 |publisher=[[Hyperion Books|Hyperion]] |others= |isbn=978-0-7868-8856-6 |pages=237}}

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