Today in history: Andr Michelin, the man who moved the world

Born on January 16, 1853, Andr Jules Michelin, along with his younger brother douard founded the Michelin et Cie in 1889, which invented the detachable pneumatic tyre, credited to douard, and later, the steel-belted radial tyre. The company he founded would later become a majority owner of French car maker Citron - a stake it held for 40 years till 1975.

The company's earlier avatar was as a failing farming and agricultural goods company, started by Andr's grandfather in 1832. The brothers diversified into making tyres for bicycles and horse drawn carriages. While repairing a flat tyre for a cyclist, duard came up with the idea of detachable pneumatic tyres in 1891.

While the new invention quickly became a rage among cyclists, Michelin realised that with the onset of the automotive age, even greater growth was possible, if only the automobiles were fitted with detachable pneumatic tyres.

In 1895, the brothers fitted the first car, called L'clair, with pneumatic tyres. To demonstrate that it could run, the brothers entered as participants in the Paris-Bordeaux road race. Interestingly, the brothers finished last in the race but that was hardly a dent in the growing interest in pneumatic tyres.

In 1898, the Michelin Man logo, known as the Bibendum made its first appearance. The concept of Bibendum was simple - a stack of tyres with arms and legs, which represented that Michelin tyres could drink up obstacles, coming from the slogan, Nunc est Bibendum, which means to drink up. Interestingly, the logo is white as earlier tyres, till 1912, were not black but grey-white or translucent beige. Marius Rossillon, better known as O'Galop, is credited as Bibendum's creator.

A shrewd businessman, Andr started promoting tourism by car, which would lead to an increase in his company's tyre sales. To this end, he came out with a blue coloured Guide Michelin in 1900, listing places to visit, along with garages and hotels. The rating system - of one to three stars - was introduced in 1926 while the colour was changed to red in 1931. Today, a Michelin star is a much coveted status symbol for restaurants.