U of A+K S U Ohio

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Special events are planned during Kent State University's May 4 commemoration, including debut of prized memorabilia collection. See link below ⬇️

📸 Provided by Bob Christy and Kent State University.

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Charles Goodyear left school at age 12 to work in his father’s hardware store in Connecticut. At age 23 he married Clarissa Beecher and soon afterwards the couple moved to Philadelphia, where Goodyear opened a hardware store of his own.

Goodyear was a competent merchant, but his passions were chemistry, materials science, and invention. In the late 1820s he became particularly fascinated with finding and improving practical applications for natural rubber (called India rubber). His experimentation would change the world, but Goodyear’s path to success would be challenging.

In 1830, at age 29, Goodyear was suffering from health issues and his rubber experiments (which he had funded by borrowing) had not been successful. By the end of the year his business was bankrupt and he was thrown into debtor’s prison. In was an inauspicious beginning to his career as a scientist and inventor.

The principal troubles with finding commercial applications for natural rubber was that the material was inelastic and was not durable, decomposing and becoming sticky depending on temperature. Goodyear was determined to find a chemical solution to overcome those issues, beginning his experiments while in jail. After numerous failures, his breakthrough came when he tried heating the rubber together with sulfur and other additives. In 1843 he wrote a friend, “I have invented a new process of hardening India rubber by means of sulphur and it is as much superior to the old method as the malleable iron is superior to cast iron. I have called it Vulcanization.”

Goodyear filed his patent application for vulcanized rubber on February 24, 1844 (one hundred eighty-two years ago today) and the patent was issued four months later. It is thanks to vulcanization that rubber can be used to make tires, shoe soles, hoses, and countless other items. It was one of the most profoundly important technological achievements of the 19th century.

So, Charles Goodyear became wealthy as a result? Unfortunately, no. He continued to struggle financially for the rest of his life, embroiled in litigation with other inventors over the validity of his patent, preventing him from profiting from it. Meanwhile, his wife Clarissa contracted tuberculosis and much of the family’s income was devoted to her medical expenses and extensive travel in search of a cure. Clarissa died in 1848 at age 39, leaving six children, between the ages of 4 and 17.

At age 54, while still struggling to defend his patents and commercialize his invention, Goodyear married 40-year-old Mary Starr (who had not previously been married) and the couple would go on to have two children together. It too was a happy marriage, but Goodyear was not destined to long enjoy it.

Suffering the adverse effects of years of exposure to dangerous chemicals, Goodyear collapsed at a hotel in New York City on July 1, 1860, dying later that day. At the time of his death, he was 59 years old, penniless, and deeply in debt.

The Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company, founded in Akron, Ohio by Frank Seiberling nearly 40 years later, was named in honor of Charles Goodyear. Neither Charles Goodyear nor anyone in his family was connected with the company.

Reflecting on Goodyear’s achievements, the historian Samuel Eliot Morrison wrote, “The story of Goodyear and his discovery of vulcanization is one of the most interesting and instructive in the history of science and industry.” But, as he added, “It is also an epic of human suffering and triumph, for Goodyear's life was one of almost continuous struggle against poverty and ill health.” Goodyear himself was philosophical about his failure to achieve financial success, writing that he was not disposed to complain that he had planted and others had gathered the fruit. “The advantages of a career in life should not be estimated exclusively by the standard of dollars and cents, as is too often done. Man has just cause for regret when he sows and no one reaps.”

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As we continue celebrating Black History Month, ODVS honors the first four African American Medal of Honor recipients from Ohio: each recognized for extraordinary bravery during the Battle of Chaffin’s Farm in 1864. All four were inducted into the inaugural class of the Ohio Veterans Hall of Fame in 1992.

Powhatan Beaty of Greater Cincinnati served in the 5th U.S. Colored Infantry, known as the “Black Brigade.” When all officers in his company were killed or wounded, he took command and led his men with exceptional courage. After the war, he became a respected orator and actor in Cincinnati.

Thomas R. Hawkins, also from Cincinnati, served in the 6th U.S. Colored Infantry. Despite being wounded, he saved the regimental colors during the battle – an act of heroism later immortalized in the painting Three Medals of Honor at the Union League of Philadelphia.

Milton Murray Holland, born to an enslaved mother in Texas and raised in Ohio, enlisted with the 5th U.S. Colored Infantry. As a Sergeant Major in the 127th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, he stepped up to lead Company C after its officers fell, earning the Medal of Honor in 1865.

Robert A. Pinn, born in Perry Township, served as First Sergeant in the 5th U.S. Colored Infantry. He, too, assumed command after his officers were lost and led his company through fierce fighting. After the war, Pinn became a school principal, an attorney, and a community leader. Several Ohio facilities now bear his name.

More than 180,000 African American soldiers served in the Union Army during the Civil War. Sixteen – including these four Ohioans – received the Medal of Honor for valor above and beyond the call of duty.

Learn more about all 16 African American Civil War Medal of Honor recipients at www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2xX7c5wN8I

When anglerfish mate, the male attaches to the female and they merge into a single entity.

They share their bodies for the rest of their lives. I

t’s known as “sexual parasitism.”

In the pitch-black depths of the ocean, where finding a mate can be a once-in-a-lifetime event, some species of deep-sea anglerfish have evolved one of the most extreme mating strategies in the animal kingdom: sexual parasitism.

In this bizarre reproductive system, the tiny male anglerfish bites into the much larger female and fuses with her body, becoming a permanent s***m-producing appendage. Over time, the male loses his eyes, fins, and most internal organs—leaving behind little more than a heart and te**es, entirely reliant on the female for nutrients via their shared bloodstream. This extraordinary adaptation ensures the female always has a ready supply of s***m in the vast and lonely ocean depths.

What truly fascinates scientists is how these anglerfish pull off such a dramatic biological merger without the female’s immune system attacking the male as a foreign invader. Research detailed in Science and Discover Magazine reveals that anglerfish species engaged in this fusion have lost several key immune genes, essentially suppressing the immune response that would normally reject such tissue integration.

This loss allows the male and female to coexist as a single organism without rejection—a highly unusual immunological strategy among vertebrates. This deep-sea oddity blurs the line between parasitism and symbiosis, offering new insight into the extremes of evolution and immune tolerance.

Source: Fricke, R., et al. (2020). Loss of immune genes in deep-sea anglerfishes with permanent male attachment. Science, 369(6511), 1311-1314.

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