American Indians
Over the next several centuries, other European explorers followed suit. The word "rubber" appeared in the 1770th year, when an English chemist named Joseph Priestley discovered that hardened pieces of rubber can be washed inscription in pencil. By the end of the eighteenth century, European scientists have discovered that a solution of rubber in turpentine forms a liquid that can be used for the production of waterproof fabric. However, until the early 19 th century, there were some technical difficulties associated with the production of natural rubber. It was a clear understanding that the rubber has a great potential, but no one had ideas about how this can be used for commercial purposes. Rubber quickly becomes dry and brittle during cold European winters. Worse, in the heat he was getting soft and sticky.
American inventor Charles Goodyear was experimenting with methods of purification of natural rubber (for almost 10 years) – before the accident enabled him to overcome problems with unprocessed rubber. Once in the 1839th year, Goodyear has left some raw rubber on top of warm oven next to the sulfur and lead. Having discovered his "mistake" in Goodyear with admiration understood that rubber became much more useful to use the properties and structure. Over the next five years, he perfected the process of converting to natural rubber, suitable for commercial application of the goods. Following the example of the Roman god of fire – Goodyear has named this process "vulcanization", which was the starting point development of the modern rubber industry. The first rubber band was formed in 1843 it was, when an Englishman named Thomas Hancock cut up a rubber bottle made by American Indians. These rubbers are used in As the belt, and their capabilities were extremely limited (as they were not vulcanized). In 1845, the year of his compatriot Stephen Perry patented the rubber band and opened the first factory to produce it.
With the unification of efforts Goodyear, Hancock, and Perry – the efficient production of quality rubber bands was possible. In the late nineteenth century, British manufacturers have started to promote the development of rubber plantations in British colonies such as and Ceylon. Rubber plantations thrived in the warm climate of Southeast Asia, and the European rubber industry has also flourished because it became possible to abandon the expensive imports from America, which was outside the British political and economic control. Many experts called the modern banking gum "mature product", as this market is not growing as fast as it There were several decades ago. However, the demand for rubber bands is stable, and it is highly unlikely that he could fall in the foreseeable future.