Howdy! It’s Joey, back with more Fun Fact Friyay. Today’s forecast is calling for rain, but this fun fact will keep you dry.
A Scottish chemist named Charles Macintosh invented the waterproof rain jacket.
I have recently returned from a vacation in Scotland, and it was just the most delightful time. In fact, I’m going to scatter photos periodically throughout this post so you can feel like you were on the trip, too.
Here’s one now:
Scotland is known for being the only country in the world to produce scotch whisky. They’re also known for their heilan coos (or “highland cows”), bagpipes, and kilts. You can enjoy all of those things while being outside, and chances are, if you’re outside at some point during the day, you’re going to get rained on.
Much of the country gets about 175 days of rainfall every year. The Highlands of Scotland receive even more, averaging a whopping 250 days of rain. Having an umbrella is essential. Even better, a waterproof rain jacket can help keep you dry as you go about town.
And who do we have to thank for the waterproof rain jacket? A Scotsman by the name of Charles Macintosh.
Macintosh was born in Glasgow. Let’s take a peek at a current exhibit from the city’s Kelvingrove Art Museum and Gallery. This installation showcases the range of emotions I imagine Macintosh went through while developing the rain jacket:
Macintosh studied chemistry in his spare time while working as a clerk. He took a fondness to experimenting with naphtha, a flammable liquid hydrocarbon mixture that’s a fantastic solvent for rubber and also sounds like me saying “Napster” with a mouth full of novocaine.
For our purposes, we’re focusing on that first characteristic: the ability to repel water. Macintosh developed a patent that put his liquified rubber between two pieces of cloth in June 1823. He began manufacturing waterproof clothing the following year, and people were quickly using it on various expeditions to wet places.
People continued expanding on the invention in the coming years. For example, Peter Halkett built an inflatable boat using the same Macintosh rubberized cloth. If you kept the boat uninflated, it also served as a stylish cape. And as Larry David would tell you, a cape is a terrific accessory.
Though Macintosh gets the credit, he likely found some inspiration from a fellow Scot. Five years earlier, Scottish surgeon James Syme had discovered that naphtha could dissolve rubber; he published what he learned in the journal Annals of Philosophy by Thomas Thomson, a guy with a great name (and another Scottish chemist).
However, Syme preferred to continue doing surgery instead of commercializing his discovery, so he never patented the idea. Macintosh built on the foundation with his “sandwich-style” construction, a method used by scientists in Spain and England for leak-proof mercury containers and balloon envelopes, respectively.
Perhaps Macintosh didn’t actually discover anything himself, but he did put two things together to solve a problem. Sometimes, that’s just as good.
And I’m happy to report that none of my clothes got soaked while I was in Scotland, all thanks to my waterproof jacket.
Even these coos are impressed by that.
