Charles Goodyear

Charles Goodyear (born Dec. 29, 1800, New Haven, Conn., U.S.—died July 1, 1860, New York City) was an American inventor of the vulcanization process that made possible the commercial use of rubber. Goodyear began his career as a partner in his father’s hardware business, which went bankrupt in 1830. He then became interested in discovering a method of treating india rubber so that it would lose its adhesiveness and susceptibility to extremes of heat and...