--- 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=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 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=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Google Doodle Honors Raincoat Inventor on His 250th Birthday > Sponsored content. 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The Brief is available free at time.com/newsletters, where readers can select it along with any of TIME's other six newsletters. There is no subscription required to receive it. #### Is The Brief free? Yes. The Brief is a free daily email newsletter from TIME. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes The Brief? The Brief is led by editor Richard Hall and draws on reporting from TIME's newsroom. Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. 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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