pre-Columbian
Olmec balls
Latex mixed with morning-glory juices.
Milestones in order. This is history, not a weekly activity grid.
- Olmec balls
- La Condamine
- Goodyear vulcanisation
- Hancock patent
- Wickham seeds
- Dunlop pneumatic
- Fordlandia
- SBR crash programme
- AIDS-era gloves
- EUDR deforestation
Darker cells mean a higher score for this topic on that metric.
Strength48
Heat resistance40
Fire performance18
Insulation38
Workability74
Circularity46
LessMore
Last reviewed Sources & creditsMedia creditsMethodology
Quick answers
Is Natural rubber non-combustible?
Declared reaction class in this atlas: combustible; tyres are a fire load. Assemblies still need resistance tests.
Does Natural rubber insulate?
Thermal mark 38/100 versus the atlas. Conductivity note: ~0.15 W/m·K.
What is the density band?
~0.92 g/cm³
How is it made?
Origin story: Mesoamerican use / Goodyear 1839 / Wickham 1876 (Amazonia → Malaysia).
Can it be recycled?
Circularity mark 46/100 — editorial, route-specific.
Typical melting or failure heat?
elastomer; decomposes on heat
heat 40 · fire 18
Natural rubber did not arrive as a finished commodity. Mesoamerican use / Goodyear 1839 / Wickham 1876 around Amazonia → Malaysia still explains who makes it and which tests it sits in.
Ten dated points, five eras and three milestones below are the spine — not a complete industrial history.
Where it began
Mesoamerican use / Goodyear 1839 / Wickham 1876Amazonia → Malaysia
Timeline
pre-ColumbianOlmec balls
Latex mixed with morning-glory juices.
1736La Condamine
European scientific samples from Amazonia.
1839Goodyear vulcanisation
Sulfur heat made a stable elastomer.
1843Hancock patent
British parallel to Goodyear.
1876Wickham seeds
Hevea smuggled to Kew then Ceylon and Malaya — colonial plantation age.
1888Dunlop pneumatic
Bicycles then cars.
1910sFordlandia
Failed industrial jungle; Asia kept the trees.
WWIISBR crash programme
Synthetic styrene-butadiene when Asia was cut off.
1990sAIDS-era gloves
NR latex protein allergy became a clinical topic.
2020sEUDR deforestation
Due-diligence rules hit Hevea maps.
The eras
1839
Goodyear vulcanisation
Sulfur heat made a stable elastomer.
1876
Wickham seeds
Hevea smuggled to Kew then Ceylon and Malaya — colonial plantation age.
1910s
Fordlandia
Failed industrial jungle; Asia kept the trees.
1990s
AIDS-era gloves
NR latex protein allergy became a clinical topic.
Milestones
Hancock patent
1843British parallel to Goodyear.
Fordlandia
1910sFailed industrial jungle; Asia kept the trees.
EUDR deforestation
2020sDue-diligence rules hit Hevea maps.
Knowing this timeline is how to read a mill certificate without treating Natural rubber as timeless.
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