On 23 July 1888, John Boyd Dunlop, who resided in Belfast, Ireland, obtained patent number 10607 for a pneumatic tyre. Dunlop, who was a veterinary surgeon by profession, spent much of his time touring the area under his charge in a light two-wheeled carriage. These journeys were no pleasure, given the awful state of the roads at the time, and Dunlop began to think of a device that would allow him to travel faster and more comfortably on the roads. 
[001] This is how the idea of the pneumatic tyre was born. The first tyre [001] was made by Dunlop in that he placed an inner tube in the form of a rubber tube on a wooden disc 16 inches in diameter, pumped up using a football pump. The tyre was a thick canvas, nailed around the circumference of the wooden wheel disc. Later Dunlop provided his canvas tyre with a rubber tread. Dunlop first applied his invention to the velocipede of his 10-year-old son Johny. Pneumatic tyres were first used on bicycles, advertised as being "especially suitable for women and people with sensitive nerves". The pneumatic tyre, without which it is impossible to imagine the development of modern motoring, quickly gained recognition. In 1889, a year after receiving a patent for his invention, Dunlop found a partner and founded the "Pneumatic Tyre Company" with him in Dublin, which became the origin of today's worldwide rubber company Dunlop. 
[002] An advertising poster from the early years of the Dunlop company. • • •
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