Ancient Mayas Produced Bouncy Rubber Balls

Hundreds -- and perhaps even thousands -- of years before Charles Goodyear discovered the vulcanization process that made commercial rubber viable, Mesoamerican peoples were carrying out a similar process to produce rubber artifacts for a broad variety of uses, including bouncy balls, glue and even resilient rubber sandals.

Source:
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-sci-rubber-20100531,0,764667.story?track=rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed: latimes/news/nationworld/nation (L.A. Times - National News)