Charles Goodyear: The Man on the Tyres Died $200,000 in Debt

His name is on millions of tyres. He died owing about $200,000. Charles Goodyear spent years in debt, hungry, and in and out of debtors' prison, chasing one problem: rubber turned sticky in summer and brittle in winter. In 1839, in Woburn, Massachusetts, a mix of rubber and sulphur touched a hot stove and charred instead of melting. That was the clue behind vulcanized rubber. This is the story of the accident, the five hard years that followed, the infringers and lawsuits that ate his profits, and the Legion of Honour he received while in a Paris debtors' prison. He died in 1860. The Goodyear tyre company, named after him by Frank Seiberling, wasn't founded until 1898. Goodyear never knew it. 0:00 The Stove in Woburn 1:02 A Debtor With an Idea 2:22 Cream Cheese and Mailbags 3:43 The Accident 4:59 Five More Hungry Years 6:29 A Medal in a Cell 7:41 The Name on the Blimp Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles... https://www.americanheritage.com/char... https://www.massmoments.org/moment-de... https://lemelson.mit.edu/resources/ch... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goodyea... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_S... #History #CharlesGoodyear #Vulcanization Archive photos: Albert Southworth / Josiah Johnson Hawes / Southworth & Hawes, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons; Alfred T. Palmer, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons; Anonyme, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons; Department of the Interior. Patent Office. (1849 - 1925), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons; Fenderich, Charles, lithographer; Duval, Peter S., 1804 or 1805-1886, printer, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons; Franz Xaver Winterhalter, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons; George H. Walker, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons; George Iles, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons; Goodyear Rubber & Tire Company, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons; Gunn, Thomas Butler, 1826-1903, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons; Internet Archive Book Images, No restrictions, via Wikimedia Commons; Jacques Reich (probably based on an earlier work by another artist), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons; Leymonnerye, Léon (1803 - 1879), dessinateur, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons; Library Company of Philadelphia, No restrictions, via Wikimedia Commons; Miami University Libraries - Digital Collections, No restrictions, via Wikimedia Commons; Michaela Pereckas, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons; Not Stated, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons; O.H. Bailey & Co. C.H. Vogt (Firm), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons; Pompeo Batoni, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons; Rijksmuseum, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons; Southworth & Hawes, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons; Tony Webster, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons; Unknown artist Unknown artist, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons; Unknown author Unknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons; Unknown author, No restrictions, via Wikimedia Commons; Unknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons; William Birch and Son (Thomas Birch), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons; William G. Jackman, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons