In 1886, 34 years before women in the U.S. earned the right to vote, our founder, David H. McConnell, helped give them the chance to earn an independent income. He didn’t set out to create a beauty company. In fact, McConnell was a traveling book salesperson and offered beauty products as an additional perk to his female customers. He saw that these women were more interested in the free perfume samples than the books – and that many of them stayed home while their husbands went off to work. Since women had a passion for his products and loved networking with other women, McConnell was inspired to recruit them as Sales Representatives. From a small New York City office, McConnell himself mixed the company's first fragrances. This began Avon’s long history of empowering women around the globe. 95 Years before the first woman was appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court ... 77 Years before the first woman traveled into space ... 76 Years before the first woman took the reins of a Fortune 500 company ...

34 Years before women in the U.S. had the right to vote ... 17 Years before the first woman won the Nobel Prize ... Avon offered women the opportunity to be CEOs of their own businesses and control their economic destinies. Avon has been empowering women for 130 years. For in-depth corporate archives, please visit Avon's online digital archive collection at the Hagley Museum. Click here to launch the site. For over 120 years, Dunlop has led the way in superior driving performance and excellence in racing. From the Trigonal TT100 of the 1970s to the Direzza ZII of today, our belief in innovation and breakthrough tire technology has helped drivers succeed both on the track and on the road. Learn more about our rich racing history below. If you're looking for a racetrack quality drive on the roads, check out our line of sport performance tires. racing history:124 years and counting in the winner's circle Since the first victory in 1889, Dunlop's dedication to innovation and technology has helped build a rich history of  success both on the racetrack and the roads.

Take a look at some highlights from 124 years of Dunlop racing.Car Seat Covers For Pontiac G5 Cyclist Willie Hume races pneumatic tires to victory, and marks the start of Dunlop Racing success.Munchkin Cat For Sale Ma First Grand Prix victory.Homes For Sale In Drake Forest Chattanooga Tn Teams up with Jaguar in the 24 Hours of Le Mans for an unprecedented winning streak: four titles in seven years. Victory in the first ever London-Sydney Marathon: a 16,000 km course across Europe, Asia, and Australia. A 1-2 finish at Le Mans on Dunlop's 100th birthday. Becomes the sole tire supplier to the British Grand Touring Championship. Becomes an official technical partner of BMW Motorsport, supporting American Le Mans Series team BMW Rahal Letterman Racing.

Celebrates 125th anniversary with victory in the Nürburgring 24-hour race. Rick Jung is no stranger to the world of Dunlop Racing. He is a veteran autocross driver that has won multiple Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) races on Dunlop Direzza tires. Rick races for Ciro Design Racing, a team that won first place on Dunlop Tires at the SCCA National Solo Championships in 2013. "Dunlop's Direzza ZII generates consistent grip across the track temperature range-which is especially important in autocross events. From cool early morning heats through warm afternoon runs, they're a great track tire." Raymond Blethen IV is an endurance racer for RST Performance Racing, a team that has been racing with the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) on amateur and professional levels since 1984. In 2013, Raymond and his team completed the 12-hour endurance race "The Devil in the Dark" on Dunlop Direzza ZII tires. "The Dunlop Direzza ZII is an excellent choice for endurance racing.

It's very quick, consistent and predictable, and one set can last an entire 12-hour race." Bill Caswell is a self-taught racing driver and mechanic who rose to fame in 2010 when he competed in a World Rally Championship using a $500 BMW he purchased on Craigslist. Bill is a rally racer for Caswell Motorsport and has competed in several tarmac rallies on Dunlop Direzza tires, including the Empire State Performance Rally and Targa Newfoundland. "The Dunlop Direzza ZII is an amazing tire. It inspires confidence and backs it up with performance."Mr. Honda set off on his trip to Europe on June 9, 1954. His primary objective was to observe the Isle of Man TT Races with his own eyes. He arrived at this Mecca of motorcycle racing, once only a distant object of desire, on June 13. The first thing he did was to inspect the race courses. These were not circuits built exclusively for racing, but literal road courses, sections of ordinary roadway closed off for the races. One was the Mountain course, 60.725 km long, and the other was the 17.36-km long Clyps course.

Both appeared even more demanding than he had heard. His first sight of the assembled Grand Prix machines from all those different countries also overwhelmed Honda. He examined them in minute detail, squatting down in his usual way. A famous race, whose name still lives in Japanese motorcycle racing history, began up in the Asama highlands in 1955. It is officially called the All Japan Motorcycle Endurance Road Race. Generally held every other year, the first race in 1955 was named the Asama Highland Race, and the second and third races in 1957 and 1959 were called the Mount Asama Volcano Race. Honda continued to taste bitter defeat in these competitions until the third, when it won an overwhelming victory. This photo shows Soichiro Honda (fourth from the left) posing with Honda riders as Mt. Asama looms in the background. The shock he received when the race began was even greater. Years later, a motor journalist named Shotaro Kobayashi asked him: "What made you happiest as an engineer?"

"To start with, I'll tell you what most disappointed me. "It was when I first went to see the Isle of Man TT Races in 1954. What amazed me was seeing machines running with about three times greater power than we had been considering. From Italy, Germany and England, they all came together to the Isle of Man and I watched them shoot off like arrows. Not only were these machines unlike any we'd ever seen before, we'd never even dreamed of such a sight. When I went and saw that, my first reaction was a shock of disappointment. I had gone there after spreading talk all over Japan about how Honda would enter the TT Races, so this was a terrible shock to me. What did I say, I wondered, and what am I going to do? Then I pulled myself together and took another look. After a good night's sleep, I went back and looked at the racecourse again the next morning. Then it came to me. These people here have a history, and that's why they can make machines like these. We don't have that history, but we've seen these machines, and that can have the same effect for us as history."

[Excerpts from Honda F-1 1964-1968, Nigensha Publishing] The declaration had said that Honda would enter a 250 cc racer with an engine that put out 100 PS per liter. In other words, 25 PS. It asserted that if this were achieved, this would undeniably place Honda at the world's highest levels of engineering. Journalists came to Honda to cover this story of a Japanese who planned to compete in the following year's TT Races, however, and talk associated with them revealed that the 250 cc class winner in the race that year, a German NSU Rennmax, had power output of nearly 150 PS per liter. Honda's picture of the world level was far off the mark. A short letter that Honda wrote to Fujisawa has been preserved, which said in part: "I saw the race for the first time on June 14, and it was terrific. I learned a lot about various things, and now I'm glad to have my confidence back. I'm sure things are harder back at the company, but please keep up with it." Having had the wind taken right out of his sails, Honda had now regained his competitive spirit, and he continued his tour, visiting England, Germany and Italy, where he energetically toured motorcycle manufacturers, automobile makers, parts fabricators, machine tool makers, and so on.

He also purchased racing parts that were not available in Japan. In England, he purchased racing tires and rims from Avon, chain from Reynold, and plugs from KLG. In Italy, he bought wheels from Borrani and carburetors from Dellorto. Carrying as many parts as he could manage, he returned to Japan. Honda had secretly been worrying about the major problem of the company's cash reserves, but the instant he saw the smiling face of Fujisawa, who had come to meet him at Haneda Airport, he realized that they had made it through the crisis. The management situation, however, was still as risky as a tightrope walk. Nevertheless, a TT Race Headquarters was established in October, and Kiyoshi Kawashima was directed to develop a racing engine. "I asked if we really were going to compete, and the reply I got was, 'No matter what happens, we're entering the race," he remembered. "If we dillydally now, we'll get left farther and farther behind. Then, 'And you know, everyone is having a very hard time now.