1843 - United States Rubber Co. Founded (a.k.a U.S. Royal)

1846 - First solid rubber tires produced

1870 - B.F.Goodrich Founded

1888 - First commercial Pneumatic tire produced by Dunlop
*made for bicycles

1889 - Both Michelin and Dunlop Tire Companies founded

1890 - First detachable pneumatic introduced into the market
*called the Bartlett Clincher

1892 - Debut of beaded edge tires introduced in the U.S.

1895 - Michelin introduces pneumatic automobile tires

1896 - Leon Bollee Automobile - First to use Pneumatic tires as OE
*Michelin Brand

1898 - Schrader valve stem patented

1900 - Firestone Tire & Rubber founded

1900 - Cord Tires introduced by Palmer (England) and B.F.Goodrich (U.S.)

1903 - Tire sizes standardized

1904 - The positive properties of Carbon black used in tires discovered

1904 - Goodyear and Firestone start producing cord tires

1904-1906 - Debut of flat tread tires by:
*1904 - Continental of Germany
*1904 - Michelin of France
*1906 - Diamond Rubber Co. of United States

1906 - Diamond Rubber Co. founded

1908-1912 - Tires
*Construction 4 ply Cotton, All-White or All-Gray Tires
*Conventional tire size 30x3/30x3.5, etc. clincher or straight side
*Flat base clincher rims, or demountable rims

1908 - Traction treads developed and introduced
*Firestone NON SKID

1912 - Carbon black commercialized by:
*Diamond Rubber Co.
*B.F.Goodrich

1913-1917 - Tires
*4 or 6 Ply cotton, All-White or All-Black tires
*Conventional tire size 32x4, etc. straight side high pressure
*Flat base demountable rims

1915 - Specialty Tire is founded (Originally called McCreary)

1917 - Last year for All-White Tires

1918 - Vogue Tyre & Rubber founded

1918-1926 Tires
*4 or 6 ply cotton, 3" whitewall or wider
*Conventional tire size 32x4, etc. straight side high pressure
*Flat base demountable rims

1919 - Denman Tire Founded

1925 - Michelin starts using wire beads in production
*Double Rivet

1927-1943 Rim sizes
*1927-1929 - Conventional size rim 21x2.5"
*1930-1931 - Conventional size rim 19x3.25"
*1932 - Conventional size rim 18x3.25"
*1933-1934 - Conventional size rim 17x4"
*1935-1943 - Conventional size rim 16x4.5"

1930 - Rubber stems start being used in place of metal stems
*Metal caps were still used

1932 - Low pressure tires introduced by Michelin France
*Supercomfort

1933 - Tornel Tire is founded

1933 - Last year for metal valve cap hardware to be used

1938 - Rayon cord introduced by Goodyear
*Replaces cotton cord

1940 - First Commercial synthetic tire introduced by B.F.Goodrich

1941 - Last year for double whitewalls to be produced

1943 - Nylon cord introduced
*For military tires in WWII
*Replaced rayon cord in civilian tires in 1947

1947 - Tubeless tires introduced by B.F.Goodrich

1949-1953 Tires
*4 Ply nylon construction, 3" whitewall or wider
*Conventional tire size 670-15, 820-15, etc.
*Conventional rim 15x4.5"

1949 - Michelin introduces the radial
*Michelin X

1954-1956 Tires
*4 ply nylon construction, 2 11/16"-2 1/2" whitewall
*Conventional tire size 670-15, 820-15, etc.
*Conventional rim 15x4.5"

1957-1961 Tires
*4 ply nylon construction 2 1/4" - 2 1/2" whitewall
*Conventional tire size 750-14, 800-14 etc.
*Conventional rim 14x5.5

1958 - Coker Tire founded by Harold Coker

1962-1966 Tires
*4 ply nylon construction 1" or less whitewall
*Conventional tire size 775-14, 855-14 etc.
*Conventional rim 14x5.5"

1963 - Use of polyester cord introduced by Goodyear

1965 - Bias belted fiberglass introduced by Armstrong Rubber Co.

1965 - B.F.Goodrich offers the first radial available in North America

1965 - Emergence of goldline, redline, and blue line tires

1966 - Bias-belted tires dominate replacement passenger tire market
*Radials as replacement tires introduced by Michelin in partnership under Sears' Allstate brand name

1967 - The start of Alpha series tire sizes

1967 - Poly/glass 70 series tires introduced for the emerging muscle cars by Firestone and Goodyear

1968 - DOT numbers required on new tires

1968 - The emergence of speed rated tires

1970 - Lincoln Mark III - First U.S. built car equipped with radials as OE

1974 - Corky Coker   takes over the antique division of Coker Tire.

1975 - The domination of radials as OE on U.S. cars

1978 - Coker Tire is licensed by BFGoodrich to develop for world wide distribution the complete line of original BFGoodrich Silvertown Tires.

1979 - "Dough nut" mini spares introduced by Firestone

1980-Present - Tires
*4 ply poly/steel radial construction

1981 North American replacement market is dominated by customers purchasing radials.