Adidas
Adidas AG is a multinational corporation and headquartered in Herzogenaurach, that designs and manufactures shoes and accessories. It is the largest sportswear manufacturer in Europe, the second largest in the world, after Nike, it is the holding company for the Adidas Group, which consists of the Reebok sportswear company, TaylorMade golf company, Runtastic, an Austrian fitness technology company and 8.33% of German football club Bayern Munich. Adidas' revenue for 2016 was listed at €19.29 billion. The company was started by Adolf Dassler in his mother's house. Dassler assisted in the development of spiked running shoes for multiple athletic events. To enhance the quality of spiked athletic footwear, he transitioned from a previous model of heavy metal spikes to utilising canvas and rubber. Dassler persuaded U. S. sprinter Jesse Owens to use his handmade spikes at the 1936 Summer Olympics. In 1949, following a breakdown in the relationship between the brothers, Adolf created Adidas, Rudolf established Puma, which became Adidas' business rival.
Adidas' logo is three stripes, used on the company's clothing and shoe designs as a marketing aid. The branding, which Adidas bought in 1952 from Finnish sports company Karhu Sports, became so successful that Dassler described Adidas as "The three stripes company"; the brand name is uncapitalized and is stylized with a lower case "a". Adidas was founded by Adolf "Adi" Dassler who made sports shoes in his mother's scullery or laundry room in Herzogenaurach, Germany after his return from World War I. In July 1924, his older brother Rudolf joined the business, which became Dassler Brothers Shoe Factory; the electricity supply in Herzogenaurach was unreliable, so the brothers sometimes had to use pedal power from a stationary bicycle to run their equipment. Dassler assisted in the development of spiked running shoes for multiple athletic events. To enhance the quality of spiked athletic footwear, he transitioned from a previous model of heavy metal spikes to utilising canvas and rubber. In 1936, Dassler persuaded U.
S. sprinter Jesse Owens to use his hand made spikes at the 1936 Summer Olympics. Following Owens' four gold medals, the name and reputation of Dassler shoes became known to the world's sportsmen and their trainers. Business was successful and the Dasslers were selling 200,000 pairs of shoes every year before World War II; the Dolbury factory, used for production of anti-tank weapons during the Second World War, was nearly destroyed in 1945 by US forces, but was spared when Dassler's wife, convinced the GIs that the company and its employees were only interested in manufacturing sports shoes. American occupying forces subsequently became major buyers of the Dassler brothers' shoes; the brothers split up in 1947 after relations between them had broken down, with Rudolf forming a new firm that he called Ruda – from Rudolf Dassler rebranded Puma, Dassler forming a company formally registered as Adidas AG from Adi Dassler on 18 August 1949. Although it is a popular urban myth that the name is an acronym for All Day I Dream About Sports, that phrase is a "backronym".
Puma SE and Adidas entered into a bitter business rivalry after the split. Indeed, the town of Herzogenaurach was divided on the issue, leading to the nickname "the town of bent necks"—people looked down to see which shoes strangers wore; the town's two football clubs were divided: ASV Herzogenaurach club was supported by Adidas, while 1 FC Herzogenaurach endorsed Rudolf's footwear. When handymen were called to Rudolf's home, they would deliberately wear Adidas shoes. Rudolf would tell them to pick out a pair of free Pumas; the two brothers were never reconciled and although both are now buried in the same cemetery, they are spaced as far apart as possible. In 1948, the first football match after World War II, several members of the West German national football team wore Puma boots, including the scorer of West Germany's first post-war goal, Herbert Burdenski. Four years at the 1952 Summer Olympics, 1500 metres runner Josy Barthel of Luxembourg won Puma's first Olympic gold in Helsinki, Finland.
At the 1960 Summer Olympics, Puma paid German sprinter Armin Hary to wear Pumas in the 100 meter sprint final. Hary had worn Adidas before and asked Adolf for payment; the German won gold in Pumas, but laced up Adidas for the medals ceremony, to the shock of the two Dassler brothers. Hary hoped to cash in from both. In 1952, following the 1952 Summer Olympics, Adidas acquired its signature 3-stripe logo from the Finnish athletic footwear brand Karhu Sports, for two bottles of whiskey and the equivalent of 1600 euros. After a period of trouble following the death of Adolf Dassler's son Horst Dassler in 1987, the company was bought in 1989 by French industrialist Bernard Tapie, for ₣1.6 billion, which Tapie borrowed. Tapie was at the time a famous specialist of rescuing bankrupt companies, an expertise on which he built his fortune. Tapie decided to move production offshore to Asia, he hired Madonna for promotion. He sent, from Christchurch, New Zealand, a shoe sales representative to Germany and met Adolf Dassler's descendants and was sent back with a few items to promote the company there.
In 1992, unable to pay the loan interest, Tapie mandated the Crédit Lyonnais bank to sell Adidas, the bank subsequently
1962 FIFA World Cup
The 1962 FIFA World Cup was the seventh FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football championship for men's national teams. It was held from 30 May to 17 June 1962 in Chile; the qualification rounds took place between August 1960 and December 1961, with 56 teams entering from six confederations, fourteen qualifying for the finals tournament alongside Chile, the hosts, Brazil, the defending champions. Brazil defended their World Cup title, defeating Czechoslovakia 3–1 in the final in the Chilean capital of Santiago, they became the second team, after Italy in 1938, to win the World Cup twice in succession. Host nation Chile finished third; the tournament was marred by a toxic violence between players on the pitch. It was the first World Cup that used goal average as a means of separating teams with the same number of points, it was the first World Cup in which the average number of goals per match was less than three. After Europe hosted two consecutive World Cups, the American federations claimed the 1962 edition must be held in South America or face a complete boycott of the tournament, similar to 1938.
Argentina, after failed candidacies, was the favorite. Magallanes' chairman, Ernesto Alvear, attended a FIFA Congress held in Helsinki while the Finnish city was hosting the 1952 Summer Olympics, he considered. Several sources say that FIFA did not want Argentina to run alone, requesting the participation of Chile as symbolic. Chile registered its candidacy in 1954 alongside Argentina and West Germany, the latter withdrawing at the request of FIFA. Chile's football federation committee, led by Carlos Dittborn and Juan Pinto Durán, toured many countries convincing various football associations about the country's ability to organise the tournament in comparison to Argentina's superior sports infrastructure and prestige; the FIFA Congress met in Lisbon, Portugal on 10 June 1956. That day, Raul Colombo, representing Argentina's candidacy, ended his speech with the phrase "We can start the World Cup tomorrow. We have it all." The next day, Dittborn presented four arguments that supported Chile's candidacy: Chile's continued participations at FIFA-organised conferences and tournaments, sports climate, tolerance of race and creed and political and institutional stability of the country.
In addition, Dittborn invoked Article 2 of the FIFA statutes that addressed the tournament's role in promoting the sport in countries deemed "underdeveloped". Chile won 31 votes to Argentina's 12. Thirteen members abstained from voting. 57 teams entered the 1962 World Cup. Chile as host nation and Brazil as reigning World Cup champions were granted automatic qualification, with the remaining 14 finals places divided among the continental confederations. Eight places were contested by three by CONMEBOL teams. CAF teams, AFC teams, NAFC teams, CCCF teams contested three play-offs slots; the three winners would face a European or South American team for entry into the World Cup. The 1962 tournament was the last one. Two teams qualified for the first time ever: Colombia and Bulgaria. Colombia would not qualify for another World Cup until 1990. Among the teams who failed to qualify were 1958 runners up Sweden and 1958 third-place finishers France. Austria withdrew during the qualification tournament; the following 16 teams qualified for the final tournament.
Eight stadiums were selected to host the World Cup matches in eight cities: Santiago, Viña del Mar, Arica, Concepción, Talcahuano and Valdivia. The Valdivia earthquake, the most powerful earthquake recorded, occurred on 22 May 1960. With over 50,000 casualties and more than 2 million people affected, the earthquake forced the organising committee to modify the World Cup's calendar. Talca, Concepción, Talcahuano and Valdivia were damaged and discarded as venues. Antofagasta and Valparaíso declined to host any matches as their venues were not financially self-sustainable. Viña del Mar and Arica managed to rebuild their stadiums while Braden Copper Company an American company that controlled the El Teniente copper mine, allowed the use of its stadium in Rancagua; the most used stadium was the Estadio Nacional in Santiago, with 10 matches. Being concerned with the build-up of the country after the 1960 earthquake, government support for the tournament was minimal. Squads for the 1962 World Cup consisted of 22 players, as for the previous tournament in 1958.
After Attilio Demaría and Luis Monti, who both represented Argentina in 1930 and Italy in 1934, Ferenc Puskás, José Santamaría and José Altafini became the third and fifth players to play for two national teams in the World Cup. In light of this, FIFA created stipulations describing that once a player represents a nation during a World Cup or its qualifying rounds the player cannot switch to another national team
1930 FIFA World Cup Final
The 1930 FIFA World Cup Final was a football match contested by Uruguay and Argentina to determine the champion of the 1930 FIFA World Cup. The final was a rematch of the gold medal match of the 1928 Olympics, which Uruguay won after a replay; the final was played at the Estadio Centenario in Uruguay, on 30 July, a Wednesday. Up to date, it is, along with the 1966 FIFA World Cup Final, the only World Cup Final not to be played on a Sunday; this World Cup Final is the only one not to be played on a weekend. The stadium gates were opened at eight o'clock, six hours before kick-off, at noon the ground was full holding 93,000 people. A disagreement overshadowed the build-up to the match as the teams disagreed on who should provide the match ball, forcing FIFA to intervene and decree that the Argentine team would provide the ball for the first half and the Uruguayans would provide one for the second; the game ended 4–2 to Uruguay after they trailed 2–1 at half-time, adding the title of World Cup winners to their status as Olympic champions.
Aged 31, Uruguayan manager Alberto Suppici is the youngest coach to win the FIFA World Cup. Jules Rimet, president of FIFA, presented the Uruguayan team with the World Cup Trophy, named after him; the following day was declared a national holiday in Uruguay. The last living player from that final, Francisco Varallo, died on 30 August 2010. After 12 minutes, Pablo Dorado put the hosts into the lead, before Argentine winger Carlos Peucelle equalised 8 minutes beating goalkeeper Enrique Ballestrero with a powerful shot. In the 37th minute, tournament top scorer Guillermo Stábile gave Argentina a 2–1 lead going into the break. Uruguay leveled the score 12 minutes into the second half via a goal from Pedro Cea, before Santos Iriarte restored the lead for the hosts in the 68th minute. With a minute left, Héctor Castro put Uruguay up 4–2, sealing the victory for Uruguay in the inaugural World Cup. 1930 FIFA World Cup Final fifa.com
Football (ball)
A football is a ball inflated with air, used to play one of the various sports known as football. In these games, with some exceptions, goals or points are scored only when the ball enters one of two designated goal-scoring areas; the first balls were made of natural materials, such as an inflated pig bladder put inside a leather cover, which has given rise to the American slang-term "pigskin". Modern balls are designed by teams of engineers to exacting specifications, with rubber or plastic bladders, with plastic covers. Various leagues and games use different balls, though they all have one of the following basic shapes: a sphere: used in association football and Gaelic football a prolate spheroid either with rounded ends: used in the rugby codes and Australian football or with more pointed ends: used in American football and Canadian footballThe precise shape and construction of footballs is specified as part of the rules and regulations; the oldest football still in existence, thought to have been made circa 1550, was discovered in the roof of Stirling Castle, Scotland, in 1981.
The ball is made of a pig's bladder. It has a diameter of between 14–16 cm, weighs 125 g and is on display at the Smith Art Gallery and Museum in Stirling. In the United States and Canada, the term football refers to a ball made of cow hide leather, required in professional and collegiate football. Footballs used in recreation and in organized youth leagues may be made of rubber or plastic materials. Since 1941, Horween Leather Company has been the exclusive supplier of leather for National Football League footballs; the arrangement was established by Arnold Horween, who had played and coached in the NFL. Horween Leather Company supplies leather to Spalding, supplier of balls to the Arena Football League. Leather panels are tanned to a natural brown color, required in professional leagues and collegiate play. At least one manufacturer uses leather, tanned to provide a "tacky" grip in dry or wet conditions. White footballs have been used in games played at night so that the ball can be seen more however, improved artificial lighting conditions have made this no longer necessary.
At most levels of play, white stripes are painted on each end of the ball, halfway around the circumference, to improve nighttime visibility and to differentiate the college football from the pro football. However, the NFL once explored the usage of white-striped footballs – in Super Bowl VIII. In the CFL the stripes traverse the entire circumference of the ball; the UFL used a ball with lime-green stripes. The XFL used a novel color pattern, a black ball with red curved lines in lieu of stripes, for its footballs. A ball with red and blue panels was introduced in the American Indoor Football League in 2005 and used by its successors, as well as the Ultimate Indoor Football League of the early 2010s and the Can-Am Indoor Football League during its lone season in 2017. Footballs used in gridiron-style games have prominent points on both ends; the shape is credited to official Hugh "Shorty" Ray, who introduced the new ball in 1934 as a way to make the forward pass more effective. Law 2 of the game specifies that the ball is an air-filled sphere with a circumference of 68–70 cm, a weight of 410–450 g, inflated to a pressure of 0.6 to 1.1 atmospheres "at sea level", covered in leather or "other suitable material".
The weight specified for a ball is the dry weight, as older balls became heavier in the course of a match played in wet weather. There are a number of different types of football balls depending on the match and turf including: training footballs, match footballs, professional match footballs, beach footballs, street footballs, indoor footballs, turf balls, futsal footballs and mini/skills footballs. Most modern Association footballs are stitched from 32 panels of waterproofed leather or plastic: 12 regular pentagons and 20 regular hexagons; the 32-panel configuration is the spherical polyhedron corresponding to the truncated icosahedron. The first 32-panel ball was marketed by Select in the 1950s in Denmark; this configuration became common throughout Continental Europe in the 1960s, was publicised worldwide by the Adidas Telstar, the official ball of the 1970 World Cup. This design in referenced when describing the truncated icosahedron Archimedean solid, carbon buckyballs, or the root structure of geodesic domes.
The football used in Australian football is similar to a rugby ball but slightly smaller and more rounded at the ends, but more elongated in overall appearance, being longer by comparison with its width than a rugby ball. A regulation football is 720–730 millimetres in circumference, 545–555 mm transverse circumference, inflated to a pressure of 62–76 kPa. In the AFL, the balls are red for day matches and yellow for night matches; the first games of Australian football were played with a round ball, because balls of that shape were more available. In 1860, Australian football pioneer Tom Wills argued that the oval rugby ball travelled further in the air and made for a more exciting game, it became customary in Australian footba
UEFA
The Union of European Football Associations is the administrative body for association football and beach soccer in Europe, although several member states are or located in Asia. It is one of six continental confederations of world football's governing body FIFA. UEFA consists of 55 national association members. UEFA represents the national football associations of Europe, runs nation and club competitions including the UEFA European Championship, UEFA Nations League, UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, UEFA Super Cup, controls the prize money and media rights to those competitions. Henri Delaunay was Ebbe Schwartz the first president; the current president is Aleksander Čeferin, a former Football Association of Slovenia president, elected as UEFA's seventh president at the 12th Extraordinary UEFA Congress in Athens in September 2016, automatically became a vice-president of the world body FIFA. UEFA was founded on 15 June 1954 in Basel, Switzerland after consultation between the Italian and Belgian associations.
The European football union began with 25 members. Until 1959 the main headquarters were located in Paris, in Bern. In 1995, UEFA headquarters were transferred to Switzerland. UEFA membership coincides for the most part with recognition as a sovereign country in Europe, although there are some exceptions; some states are not members. Some UEFA members are not sovereign states, but form part of a larger recognised sovereign state in the context of international law; these include Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, the Faroe Islands, Kosovo, however in the context of these countries government functions concerning sport tend to be carried at the territorial level coterminous with the UEFA member entity. Some UEFA members are transcontinental states and others are considered part of Europe both culturally and politically. Countries, members of the Asian Football Confederation were admitted to the European football association Israel and Kazakhstan. Additionally some UEFA member associations allow teams from outside their association's main territory to take part in their "domestic" competition.
AS Monaco, for example, takes part in the French League. F. C. participate in the English League. Derry City, situated in Northern Ireland, plays in the Republic of Ireland-based League of Ireland and the 7 native Liechtensteinian teams play in the Swiss Leagues. Saarland Football Union, joined Football Association of West Germany Football Association of East Germany, joined Football Association of West Germany as German Football Association Football Federation of the Soviet Union. Four other successor republics formed their own football organisations. Football Association of Serbia and Montenegro. Montenegro, which exited the union, created the Football Association of Montenegro, it competed as FR Yugoslavia until 2003 when the country changed its name to Montenegro. Football Association of Czechoslovakia, became Football Association of the Czech Republic and Slovak Football Association with the Football Association of the Czech Republic acknowledged as its direct successor. Lithuania, in 1990 sanctions were imposed due to secession of Lithuanian Football Federation from the Football Federation of Soviet Union Yugoslavia, in 1992-1998 sanctions were imposed due to the Bosnian War Italy, in 1974-1975 sanctions were imposed against SS Lazio due to its fans, Italy was restricted from the European Cup to which Lazio qualified England, in 1985-1991 sanctions were imposed against English association football clubs due to the Heysel Stadium disaster by suspending their participation in continental competitions for five years Netherlands, in 1991-1992 sanctions were imposed against AFC Ajax due to its fans, the Netherlands were restricted from the European Cup to which Ajax qualified Albania, in 1967 special sanctions were imposed against 1966–67 Albanian Superliga due to its political background 1968–69 the Warsaw Pact demonstrated political protest and imposed sanctions on clubs of its members in continental competitions (included E
Puma (brand)
Puma SE, branded as Puma, is a German multinational company that designs and manufactures athletic and casual footwear and accessories, headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Germany. PUMA is the third largest sportswear manufacturer in the world; the company was founded in 1948 by Rudolf Dassler. In 1924, Rudolf and his brother Adolf Dassler had jointly formed the company Gebrüder Dassler Schuhfabrik; the relationship between the two brothers deteriorated until the two agreed to split in 1948, forming two separate entities and Puma. Both companies are based in Herzogenaurach, Germany. Puma has been a public company since 1986, listed at the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. French luxury group Kering holds 16%, Kering's largest shareholder Artemis SA owns 29% of the share capital. Since 1 July 2013, the company has been led by former football professional Bjørn Gulden; as of 2017, Puma SE employs more than 13,000 people worldwide and distributes its products in more than 120 countries. Following the split from his brother, Rudolf Dassler registered the new-established company as Ruda, but changed the name to Puma.
Puma's earliest logo consisted of a square and beast jumping through a D, registered, along with the company's name, in 1948. Puma's shoe and clothing designs feature the Puma logo and the distinctive "Formstrip", introduced in 1958. Puma offers products for Basketball, Running and Fitness, Golf and Sportstyle. In the past, it sponsored a number of legendary athletes, including Pelé, Eusébio, Johan Cruyff, Diego Maradona, Lothar Matthaus, Clyde Frazier, Jim Hines, Boris Becker, Martina Navratilova, Tommie Smith, Joe Namath, Linford Christie, Colin Jackson, Heike Drechsler and Michael Schumacher among others. International footballers Cesc Fàbregas, Sergio Agüero, Antoine Griezmann, Hector Bellerin, Yaya Touré, Olivier Giroud, Marco Reus, Romelu Lukaku, Luis Suárez, David Silva, Vincent Kompany and many more are sporting Puma football boots. In terms of football clubs, Puma sponsors Manchester City, Borussia Dortmund, Independiente, C. D. Guadalajara, A. C. Milan, L. D. U. Quito, Olympique de Marseille, Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras, Borussia Mönchengladbach and Bengaluru FC.
National football teams Italy, Switzerland, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Ghana and Uruguay and Olympic Handball Champion Denmark are endorsed. In Athletics, Puma sponsors the Jamaican, Bahamas, Trinidad & Tobago, Barbados, Portugal,Swiss and Norvegian Athletic Associations. In addition, Puma sponsors the Olympic Associations of Jamaica, Cuba and Trinidad & Tobago, it has the world’s fastest man and Jamaican track athlete Usain Bolt under contract along with other track and field athletes like Andre Degrasse, Will Claye and Pierre-Ambroise Bosse. Over the past decades, several world records were achieved by athletes wearing PUMA shoes, such as Heinz Futterer, Armin Hary, Jim Hines, Tommie Smith, Asafa Powell, Usain Bolt. In 2018 Puma announced its entrance back into basketball after a break of 20 years; the brand appointed Jay-Z as Creative Director of Puma basketball. Marvin Bagley, Deandre Ayton, Zhaire Smith, Michael Porter Jr. are the first players to join PUMA’s basketball roster and play in performance PUMA basketball shoes.
Puma made its partnership with Netball after 28 years by sponsoring the Melbourne Vixens, the only netball team to be partnered with the global firmFrom 2018 Puma became the official apparel sponsor of New Zealand's national netball team, the Silver Ferns. The firm sponsors Indian cricketer Virat Kohli the captain of the India national team, as well as former Black Caps captain Brendon McCullum. Golfers such as Rickie Fowler, Bryson DeChambeau and Lexi Thompson are equipped by Puma's golf brand Cobra Puma Golf. In Formula 1, Puma equips the teams of Scuderia Ferrari and Red Bull Racing. In addition, Puma sponsors BMW in all its Motorsports activities. In order to support its women’s business, PUMA endorses supermodel Cara Delevingne and actress/singer Selena Gomez. In December 2014, Rihanna was named Creative Director, overseeing direction of the womenswear line. Puma is now a proud sponsor of the Korean boy band, BTS, as of 28 February 2018, they are now one of Puma's many global ambassadors due to the band's major rise in fame.
Singers The Weeknd and Big Sean are brand ambassadors, having created their own collections. The company has a few dozen small corporate offices around the world, four "international hubs": Boston, Massachusetts. Christoph von Wilhelm Dassler was a worker in a shoe factory, while his wife Pauline ran a small laundry in the Franconian town of Herzogenaurach, 20 km from the city of Nuremberg. After leaving school their son, Rudolf Dassler, joined his father at the shoe factory; when he returned from fighting in World War I, Rudolf was trained as a salesman at a porcelain factory, in a leather trading business in Nuremberg. In 1924, Rudolf and his younger brother, nicknamed "Adi", founded a shoe factory, they named the new business "Gebrüder Dassler Schuhfabrik", the only business at the time that manufactured sports shoes. The pair started their venture in their mother's laundry. At the time, electricity supplies in the town were unreliable, the brothers sometimes had to use pedal power from a stationary bicycle to run their equipment.
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Charles Goodyear
Charles Goodyear was an American self-taught chemist and manufacturing engineer who developed vulcanized rubber, for which he received patent number 3633 from the United States Patent Office on June 15, 1844. Goodyear is credited with inventing the chemical process to create and manufacture pliable, moldable rubber. Goodyear's discovery of the vulcanization process followed five years of searching for a more stable rubber and stumbling upon the effectiveness of heating after Thomas Hancock, his discovery initiated decades of successful rubber manufacturing in the Lower Naugatuck Valley in Connecticut, as rubber was adopted to multiple applications, including footwear and tires. The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company is named after him. Charles Goodyear was born in New Haven, the son of Amasa Goodyear, the oldest of six children, his father was a descendant of Stephen Goodyear of London, England, one of the founders of the colony of New Haven in 1638. In 1823, Charles went to Philadelphia to learn the hardware business.
He worked industriously until he was twenty-five years old, returning to Connecticut, entered into partnership in his father’s business in Naugatuck, CT where they manufactured not only ivory and metal buttons, but a variety of agricultural supplements. On August 3, 1824 he married Clarissa Beecher. Two years the family moved to Philadelphia, there Charles Goodyear opened a hardware store; this is. His specialties were the valuable agricultural implements that his firm had been manufacturing, after the first distrust of domestically made goods had worn away—for all agricultural implements were imported from England at that time—he found himself heading a successful business; this continued to increase. Between 1829 and 1830 he broke down in health. At the same time, the failure of a number of business endeavors embarrassed his firm, they struggled on, for some time, but were obliged to fail. Between the years 1831 and 1832, Goodyear heard about gum elastic and examined every article that appeared in the newspapers relative to this new material.
The Roxbury Rubber Company, of Boston, had been for some time experimenting with the gum, believed it had found means for manufacturing goods from it. It was sending its goods all over the country, it was some of Roxbury's goods. Soon after this, Goodyear visited New York, his attention went to life preservers, it struck him that the tube used for inflation was not effective nor well-made. Therefore, upon returning to Philadelphia, he made tubes and brought them back to New York and showed them to the manager of the Roxbury Rubber Company; the manager was pleased with the ingenuity. He confessed to Goodyear that the business was on the verge of ruin, that his products had to be tested for a year before it could be determined if they were perfect or not. To their surprise, thousands of US$ worth of goods that they had determined to be of good quality were being returned, the gum having rotted, making them useless. Goodyear at once made up his mind to experiment on this gum and see if he could overcome the problems with these rubber products.
However, when he returned to Philadelphia, a creditor had him imprisoned. While there, he tried his first experiments with India rubber; the gum was inexpensive and by heating it and working it in his hands, he managed to incorporate in it a certain amount of magnesia which produced a beautiful white compound and appeared to take away the stickiness He thought he had discovered the secret, through the kindness of friends was able to improve his invention in New Haven. The first thing that he made was shoes, he used his own house for grinding and vulcanizing, with the help of his wife and children, his compound at this time consisted of India rubber and magnesia, the whole dissolved in turpentine and spread upon the flannel cloth which served as the lining for the shoes. It was not long, before he discovered that the gum treated this way, became sticky, his creditors discouraged, decided that he would not be allowed to go further in his research. Goodyear, had no mind to stop here in his experiments.
Selling his furniture and placing his family in a quiet boarding place, he went to New York and in an attic, helped by a friendly druggist, continued his experiments. His next step was to compound the rubber with magnesia and boil it in quicklime and water; this appeared to solve the problem. At once it was noticed abroad that he had treated India rubber to lose its stickiness, he received international acclamation, he seemed on the high road to success, until one day he noticed that a drop of weak acid, falling on the cloth, neutralized the alkali and caused the rubber to become soft again. This proved to him, he therefore continued experimenting, after preparing his mixtures in his attic in New York, would walk three miles to a mill in Greenwich Village to try various experiments. In the line of these, he discovered that rubber dipped in nitric acid formed a surface cure, he made many products with this acid cure which were held in high regard, he received a letter of commendation from Andrew Jackson.
Exposure to harsh chemicals, such as nitric acid and lead oxide, adversely affected his health, once nearly suffocated him by gas generated in his laboratory. Goodyear survived. To
