The Scottish vet, John Boyd Dunlop is often credited with inventing the pneumatic tyre. He made some in 1888 for his son's tricycle. Dunlop then persuaded the leading local cyclist, Willie Hume to use them. He was impressed because they were not just comfortable to ride on - they were also fast. Thus was born Dunlop tyres, in the form of the Dunlop Rubber Company. Dunlop tyres are still going today.
However, it is now thought that he did not actually invent them, rather they were first invented by another Scot, Robert William Thomson, some 43 years earlier than Dunlop. He did not call them tyres, naming them as 'elastic bearings' but the bicycle was still only very recently invented and the motor car was a far off dream, so the world was just not quite ready for pneumatic tyres when he invented them, since there was little use that they could be put to !
However, it is now thought that he did not actually invent them, rather they were first invented by another Scot, Robert William Thomson, some 43 years earlier than Dunlop. He did not call them tyres, naming them as 'elastic bearings' but the bicycle was still only very recently invented and the motor car was a far off dream, so the world was just not quite ready for pneumatic tyres when he invented them, since there was little use that they could be put to !
