Dispatched about 70,000 hevea seeds to Kew. 2397 germinated.

50 seedlings arrived from Kew. Died due to neglect.

Brought hevea seedlings to Kew.

Leopold II of Belgium opened an International African Conference which gave birth to the Association Internationale Africaine (ASA).

He completed his three year journey from the east coast of Africa to the west coast, following the River Congo.

22 seedlings arrived. Survived. Ridley said "Basis of virtually all Asian trees today".

Patented rubber golf balls.

Rubber exports totalled 220 tons.

A great drought, ½ million died, the rest fled – many to the Amazon basin to provide the tappers so desperately needed.

Invented the sulphur chloride vapour cure process for curing thin films – balloons, medical gloves etc.

Repolymerized isoprene to "rubber".

Developed electrolytic deposition of copper or silver to provide interface between metal and rubber.

First patent for barrier protection of rubber vulcanizates.

Sent trial samples of rubber to the UK for evaluation.

Arguably sent the first Malaysian rubber to the UK.

Noted that copper accelerated degradation of vulcanized rubber.

Founded Francis Shaw (Rubber Engineers). He started as an engineer with C Mackintosh.

Produced a light-weight four stroke petrol engine which would fit in a ‘horseless carriage’

Patented ebonite tank linings to hold corrosive liquids.

Invented a ‘cushion tyre’ for bicycles.

Patented ebonite fountain pens

The ‘State’ of the Congo which Leopold had created and controlled through a series of confusingly named companies was recognised by the USA.

The India Rubber Journal ( IRJ) first published

Manufactured the first motor car.

Proposed gutta percha for power transmission belting.

Founded Avon Rubber. Tyre division taken over by Coopers in 1997.

Exported first African wild rubber.

Patented ‘Flexifort’ a tyre cord with 98% warp and 2% weft which eliminated the abrasive degradation problems associated with conventional fabric-reinforced tyres. Used by Dunlop in his 1888 tyres. Nevertheless, fabric reinforcement lasted through to the end of WW1).

Southern Rubber Co, founded.

30 tons of rubber exported.

Left Leyland Rubber to start the British Rubber Co.

He also left Leyland Rubber to start Iddon Bros. Ltd. Machinery manufacturers.

Took over Botanical Gardens and began a one-man crusade to develop rubber plantations.

"Reinvented" the pneumatic tyre but now bicycles and vehicles were available to use it.

Groupe Michelin formed.

Launched Pneumatic Tyre Co. Later to form Dunlop Rubber Co.

First use of rubber gloves in the operating theatre (made by Goodyear Rubber Co.).

Founded the journal, ‘India Rubber World’ in New York.

Founded the Scottish India-Rubber Co.

20,000 tons exported out of world production of 30,000 tons.

130 Tons exported.

Developed tyre rim designs essentially similar to today’s.

Korzeniowski (Joseph Conrad) gathered enough experience in six months to write the semi-autobiographical 'Heart of Darkness' and 'An Outpost of Progress'.

In an open letter to President Harrison he coined the phrase ‘A crime against humanity’ in describing what was happening in the Congo.

The three great overlords, all 3 specialising in torture, maiming and murder to amass their millions (JGA in the ‘Manaos’ region) (Suarez, 16,000,000 acres in Bolivia centred at Cachuela Esperanza). (JCA 14,000,000 acres in Colombia and Peru). Arana is the most documented because of the ‘Putumayo atrocities’ (see below).

Issued a secret decree banning natives from selling rubber and ivory and demanding action from his agents to secure them for the State (i.e. himself).

He split the Congo into 3, one for himself, a second for his cronies (and by ’98, 50% for himself) and a third for Colonel North (financed by Leopold).

Synthesised ‘rubber’ from synthetic isoprene.

Developed heavy duty rubber belting for moving iron ore.

US Rubber Co formed. Later to become Uniroyal and eventually part of Michelin North America Co.

Discovered how to make channel black.

Harborough Rubber Co. specialising in boot and shoe soles, heels etc.

New Eccles Rubber and Cycle Co. launched to make rubber balls.

British Recovered Rubber Co. Ltd. Founded. Possibly the first limited company for reclaiming waste rubber.

200 Miles of railway completed from the E coast to Stanley Pool. Five years in the building and several thousand lives.

Made the first true commercial plantings of hevea in Malacca.

Introduced the first pneumatic motorcar tyre which was fitted to a specially designed Daimler. The car took part in the Paris-Bordeaux-Paris race of that year and finished ninth out of forty two entrants.

Firs practicable rubber estate.

First person to record that solvent extraction of rubber resulted in poorer ageing properties.

Introduced the first pneumatic motor car tyre in the US.

Patented the first ‘whole tyre’ curing process (Dunlop Rubber Co.).

Advocated the hevea tree above all others for rubber production in Malaysia.

Developed and promoted a tapping method very similar to that used today. Gave much improved yields and extended the useful tree life.

Commercial production of channel black.

Adapted the idea of a rubber-bulbed scent spray to spray anaesthetics – also used by Lister for antiseptics.

Patented a machine for making hollow rubber balls.

President McKinley proposed rubber cultivation in appropriate US possessions – American ‘rubber gold’ rush. By 1910 planting abandoned and by 1920 virtually nothing left.

Patent for golf ball made of a core wound with stretched rubber thread and coated with gutta percha applied for.

Goodyear Tyre and Rubber Co. formed.

The “Michelin man” appeared for the first time.

Used acid coagulation to make sheets of rubber suitable for drying/smoking and transporting.

1st Plantation rubber shipped from Sri Lanka.

Started rubber trading in the Putumayo region of NW Amazonia.

The first ‘sterling capital’ company launched for rubber cultivation in Malaysia (The Selangor Rubber Co. Ltd.).

Ebonite had many uses because of its corrosion resistance –pumps and battery cases being two major industrial applications.

World production of NR approaches 50,000 tons.

Set up the British Consular Service in the Congo, travelled in the bush and reported on the atrocities he had seen.

Firestone Tyre and Rubber Co formed.

Michelin introduced grooved tyre treads.

Synthesised polydimethylbutadiene (methyl Rubber).

Morel, an employee of the shipping line which was used by Leopold II became so sickened by what he had discovered that he resigned and set out to destroy him.

Goodyear enters motor racing with Henry Ford.

Raised E D Morel’s findings in the Houses of Parliament and Leopold was savaged by Parliament.

Harrison & Crosfield got involved in rubber as agents to and shareholders in the Petaling Rubber Estates Syndicate.

Discovered the ‘reinforcing’ properties of carbon black in giving extra strength to a vulcanizate.

Set up The Congo Reform Society.

The first appreciation of zinc oxide as a ‘reinforcing’ filler.

2,500 tons shipped out of Malaysia and Sri Lanka. (World output 56,000 tons) 100,000 Acres planted to rubber. By 1915 close to 3,000,000 acres had been planted in this region.

Guthries became involved with rubber through as agents for Linggi Plantations Ltd.

Published his damning inditement of Leopold – ‘Red Rubber’ Leopold was in retreat.

First chemical to "accelerate" vulcanization (Aniline) then diphenylthiourea (DPU).

Used Oenslager’s accelerators to make tyres and realised they had improved ageing characteristics.

Patented the moulded rubber hot water bottle.

First practical use of carbon black as a rubber filler.

The Rubber Growers’ Association was launched in London by prominent representatives of plantations in Sri Lanka and Malaysia.

Peruvian Amazon Co formed in London with control of 800,000 acres in the Putumayo region.

Government passed an Act ‘freeing’ the Congo and also ‘bought out’ Leopold for £2,000,000 and took over many of his debts (since he had hidden most of his assets).

Patented aniline and similar chemicals as antioxidants.

After months of rumour ‘The Truth’ detailed many of Arana’s company’s atrocities.

Died with a known estate of some £5,000,000. He had spent millions more and perhaps 10-15,000,000 natives died to produce 75,000 tons of rubber under his regime.

Patents process for making synthetic polyisoprene.

Suggested that natural rubber might consist of very long chains of isoprene units.

Belgian Congo/French Congo and Angola produced about 50% of all African rubber over the 1st decade of the century.

Wild rubber production around 85,000 tons (50% Amazonian, 25% African, much of the rest from Mexico) and 11,000 tons of plantation rubber.

Enquired on behalf of the UK into the Putumayo atrocities and confirmed them.

Prepared cyclized rubber.

Polymerized 1,3-butadiene to give a rubbery material (BR).

Wild rubber peaks at about 90,000 tons p/a. Plantation rubber (Malaysia/Sri Lanka) passes 10,000 tons p/a.

Patented a process for polymerising styrene.

Many Chinese immigrants arrive to ease labour shortage in the plantations.

An investigating judge, he confirmed that the rumours concerning Arana were true and, indeed, the situation was even worse.

Government published the Casement papers relating to the Putumayo atrocities.

Goodyear built the first US airship.

Deduced that rubber degradation was autoxidation.

The house of Commons found the UK directors "culpably negligent in the ‘Putumayo affair'". The company was wound up but Arana could not be prosecuted in the UK and continued much as before. It is estimated that between 1900 and 1910 the Putumayo yielded 4,000 tons of rubber at a minimum cost of 30,000 native lives.

The Belgium courts finished untangling Leopold’s legacy and the Congo Reform Association disbanded.