When Was John Dunlop Born And Where?

John Boyd Dunlop was born on the 5th of February, 1840 on a farm at Dreghorn, North Ayrshire.

John Boyd Dunlop studied Veterinary at the Dick Vet, University of Edinburgh and became a veterinary surgeon. He pursued this profession for nearly ten years at home before moving to Belfast,Ireland in 1867.

John Dunlop's invention came in to being out of the necessity of a comfortable way to travel on the rough roads of Ireland. In 1888 his small son, suffering from cold was prescribed cycling as a cure. Dunlop thought of making the boy's tricycle more comfortable by fitting it with inflated tubes that were made of canvas and bonded together with liquid rubber. He tested it and patented this idea, using the word 'pneumatic' for the first time, in the same year. A local firm, W. Edlin and Co manufactured frames to fit the new tyre. It was used in 1889 by a well-known local cyclist, Willie Hume for a race. He won the race at Cherryvale using the same and made Dunlop's discovery famous.

The paper manufacturer, Harvey du Cros, who witnessed the race, bought Dunlop's patents in 1896 for £3000. However, two years later the patent was nullified and Dunlop was officially informed that it was invalid as Scottish inventor Robert William Thomson, had patented the idea in France in 1846 and in the US in 1847.
John Dunlop did not benefit a great deal from his invention as he had sold the patents early on. He died on 24th October 1921.