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"The little-known secrets behind the men & women who shaped America"

Veterinarian overshadowed by his success as an inventor

By Paul Niemann

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[September 04, 2008]  There have been inventors whose lives as inventors were overshadowed by their other careers -- their main careers.

InsuranceFor example, well-known aviator Charles Lindbergh had a second career as little-known inventor Charles Lindbergh when he invented the heart fusion pump, which led to open-heart surgery. Well-known comic Zeppo Marx became little-known inventor Zeppo Marx with his two patented inventions; one of them secured bombs in airplanes during World War II and the other alerted cardiac patients to an irregular heartbeat.

There are many more examples of inventors who had dual careers, but J.B.'s career was just the opposite. You've heard of him because of his invention; in fact, you've probably used the product that he invented. But you probably didn't know that he was a veterinarian before he gained worldwide notoriety as an inventor.

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J.B. was born in 1840 in Scotland, the same country that gave us Alexander Graham Bell, Robert Louis Stevenson and Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling. Lest you think I'm disguising his name from you by using his first and last initials, "J" and "B" were his first and middle initials.

People often went by their initials back then. J.B.'s initials stand for John Boyd. I am hiding his last name from you because his last name is synonymous with his product, and that would give it away. I will give you a hint, though: J.B.'s invention was in the rubber industry.

And that's the last time I'll ever use one of those words like "lest" in this column, I promise. Only snooty people with foreign accents use words like "lest" on a regular basis.

J.B. did not invent the material that made him famous, but he figured out a much better way to use it.

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Here's another hint as to J.B.'s identity: The material was used in its natural form as far back as the 1400s in Latin America. Christopher Columbus even noticed that the natives were playing with it, and they also made shoes with the material.

If that clue doesn't give it away, then this one should just about do it: It was originally known as "cahuchu." Gesundheit.

J.B.'s inspiration came while watching his son struggle to ride his tricycle with its solid rubber wheels. He thought there must be a better way, so he went about designing his own type of tire. His invention became the modern-day inflatable tire, which J.B. invented in 1888. His full name was John Boyd Dunlop. As in Dunlop Tires.

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Actually, the first inflatable tire was invented by another Scottish inventor, R.W. Thomson in 1845 (there they go with those initials again!). Thomson never developed his invention for commercialization, though, so he is not well-known.

The word "rubber," by the way, got its name from pencil erasers that are used to "rub out" mistakes.

[By PAUL NIEMANN]

Paul Niemann's column is syndicated to more than 70 newspapers. He is the author of the "Invention Mysteries" series of books. He can be reached at niemann7@aol.com.

Copyright Paul Niemann 2008

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