ONE GOOD FACT

September 27, 2025

In the 1800s the rubber industry was booming, and Brazil had a near monopoly on the material thanks to its rainforests filled with rubber trees. British explorer Henry Wickham, today sometimes labeled a biopirate, absconded back to England with 70,000 rubber-tree seeds. After they sprouted, they were taken to British colonies in Southeast Asia to make the first rubber plantations.