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In 1844 Charles Goodyear invented vulcanized rubber which was later used to make tires.
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In 1895, André Michelin was the first person to use pneumatic tires on an automobile, however, not successfully.
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In 1903, P.W. Litchfield of the Goodyear Tire Company patented the first tubeless tire, however, it was never commercially exploited until the 1954.
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In 1904, mountable rims were introduced that allowed drivers to fix their own flats and Frank Seiberling invented grooved tires with improved road traction.
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In 1910, B.F. Goodrich Company invented longer life tires by adding carbon to the rubber.
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In 1991 Philip Strauss, made the first successful automobile tire, which was a combination tire and air filled inner tube. Strauss' company the Hardman Tire & Rubber Company marketed the tires.
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Goodrich also invented the first synthetic rubber tires in 1937 made of a patented substance called Chemigum.
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In 1967, Goodyear, the world’s largest tire company, introduced their response to the radial, a bias-belt product called the Custom Superwide Polyglas. The bias-belted tire simply added a fiberglas belt to the bias-ply tire. The bias-belted tire would last 30,000 miles compared to 40,000 for radial and 23,000 for bias-ply tires.
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The first tires on the moon, throught the Apollo 14 mission, are supplied by goodyear.
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Goodyear finally produced a radial tire in 1977 by investing billions of dollars in radial technology. Other American tire companies either merged or were bought out. All American new cars came with radial tires by 1983.
