- The earliest rubber balls were developed by the Mayan society in 1600 B.C. Mayans combined the sap from the rubber tree with the juice of Morning Glory vines.
- Charles Goodyear developed vulcanized rubber in 1839, and synthetic rubber was developed by German scientists during World War I. Both breakthroughs improved the durability of rubber balls.
- A wide variety of sports balls are made from rubber including tennis and golf balls that utilize a rubber core.
- A new and more powerful ball made from synthetic rubber was developed in 1965 by chemist Norman Stingley when he compressed rubber under 3,500 pounds of pressure per square inch.
- Stingley's discovery was purely accidental. Once he saw the properties exhibited by his compressed rubber creation, he knew that he had a hit toy on his hands.
- The Wham-O toy company teamed up with Stingley to market the "Super Ball" in 1966 and the toy quickly became a top selling playground staple.
- Advertisements of the day claimed that the Super Ball could rebound to the height of a three story building when thrown down.
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