--- title: Google Doodle Honors Raincoat Inventor Charles Macintosh description: Google's latest doodle honors Scottish chemist and inventor, Charles Macintosh, on his 250th birthday. He invented the raincoat. canonical: https://time.com/4619591/google-doodle-charles-macintosh-birthday/ author: Melissa Locker article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-12-29T18:00:36.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T04:46:31.906Z og:title: Google Doodle Honors Raincoat Inventor Charles Macintosh og:description: It would have been the Scottish inventor's 250th birthday og:url: https://time.com/4619591/google-doodle-charles-macintosh-birthday/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt679638907938c114/6988b42cab6d7763436ac5b1/charles-macintosh-raincoat-google.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Charles Macintosh, Scottish industrial chemist and inventor, c 1820. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Google Doodle Honors Raincoat Inventor Charles Macintosh twitter:description: It would have been the Scottish inventor's 250th birthday twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt679638907938c114/6988b42cab6d7763436ac5b1/charles-macintosh-raincoat-google.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Google Doodle Honors Raincoat Inventor on His 250th Birthday by [Melissa Locker](https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Dec 29, 2016 6:00 PM UTC  An engraving of Charlies Macintosh, who in 1823 successfully produced the first waterproof cloth when he bonded together two pieces of woolen cloth with a solution of dissolved india-rubber. An engraving of Charlies Macintosh, who in 1823 successfully produced the first waterproof cloth when he bonded together two pieces of woolen cloth with a solution of dissolved india-rubber.SSPL/Getty Images by [Melissa Locker](https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Dec 29, 2016 6:00 PM UTC In these gray winter days, [Google](http://time.com/4391031/google-diversity-statistics-2016/?iid=sr-link3) is paying homage to an inventor who has helped countless people stay dry in inclement weather—Charles Macintosh. “Today’s [Doodle](http://content.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1947844,00.html?iid=sr-link6) shows Macintosh enjoying a Scottish rain shower whilst testing his ingenious invention,” [Google](http://time.com/4598647/most-popular-google-search-2016/?iid=sr-link5) said in [their tribute](https://www.google.com/doodles/charles-macintoshs-250th-birthday). The Scottish chemist and inventor was born 250 years ago today. He used his science background to create a waterproof material that could be sandwiched between a blend of coal-tar naphtha and rubber. According to [Today in Science](https://todayinsci.com/M/Macintosh%5FCharles/MacintoshCharlesBio.htm), “The rubber interior provided a layer impermeable to water, though still flexible,” which made it ideal for clothing. The resulting fabric was patented (No. 4,804) in 1823 and was used to make the world’s first raincoat. While Scottish tailors weren’t interested in the fabric, according to [Scotland Now](http://www.scotlandnow.dailyrecord.co.uk/lifestyle/heritage/scottish-clans-mackintosh-identifies-both-7264334), its value was proven when Scottish explorer John Franklin and his crew used the material during their Arctic travels, [according to On This Day in Scotland.](http://iainthepict.blogspot.com/2011/07/charles-macintosh.html) Soon, Macintosh’s fabric became a staple in the wardrobe of every denizen of a soggy environment. The vitally important garment still bears Macintosh’s name—albeit called Mackintosh and usually shortened to “Mac”— in much of the United Kingdom. “It’s a wonder how the weather-beaten Brits coped before Scottish chemist Charles Macintosh invented his [eponymous waterproof coat](https://www.google.com/culturalinstitute/beta/theme/SwLSEIbM4qLrIg),” noted [Google](http://time.com/google-now/?iid=sr-link1).  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