Google Doodle honours father of the raincoat

Google has honoured the inventor of waterproof material, Charles Macintosh, with a Doodle on Thursday to mark what would be his 250th birthday.

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The Scottish chemist’s invention, which led to the modern raincoat, is to be credited for making it a lot more convenient to go out in the rain.

The Doodle shows Macintosh enjoying a Scottish rain shower while testing his ingenious invention.

“His invention, patented in 1823, came about as he experimented with coal-tar naphtha and rubber and realised they could be fused together with fabric to create a waterproof surface,” Google said in a statement.

In Britain, it is now common to call any type of raincoat a “Mac”.

Born in Glasgow, Macintosh’s contribution is, however, not limited to the invention of waterproof fabrics. He also figured out a way to make blast furnaces more efficient and also invented a bleaching powder.