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John Boyd Dunlop. Portrait of John Boyd Dunlop (1840-1921), Scottish inventor of the pneumatic tyre. Although he was a veterinary surgeon, Dunlop invented the tyre (a rubber tube filled with air) in 1887 for his son's bicycle. Dunlop filed a patent for his invention on 23 July 1889 and received it on 7 December 1889. Dunlop founded a tyre factory which utilised Goodyear's vulcanisation process for hardening rubber and full-scale production began in 1890. The extra comfort given by the new invention made cycling a fashionable activity, which in turn made Dunlop a rich man. (KEYSTONE/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY)