| 1947 |
James Dyson is
born to academic parents against what he describes as a "middle class and not
particularly wealthy background in the backwater of north Norfolk."
|
| 1956 to 1965 |
Gresham's School,
Holt, Norfolk, O-Levels gained in Latin, Greek, French, English Language,
English Literature, Art, Mathematics, History. A-levels gained in Ancient
History, Art and General Studies.
|
| 1965 to 1966 |
Byam Shaw School of drawing and painting, Kensington, London.
|
| 1966 to 1970 |
Royal College of Art for four years, where he studies
furniture design, then interior design.
- Design of a new theatre for New Stratford East Theatre, 1967
- Design of the auditorium and seats for the Roundhouse, London, 1967.
- Chrome seating and crèche furniture design with the Conran Design Group for
Terminal 1, Heathrow
- Designs for Peter Dominic wine shops in Victoria St, London, and Cheltenham
with the Conran Design Group.
- Designs and engineers the Sea Truck for inventor Jeremy Fry, with sales to
over 50 countries. The Sea Truck wins a Design Council Award and the 1975 Duke
of Edinburgh's special prize.
|
| 1970 |
Joins Rotork in
Bath to start and manage the new Marine Division. He develops sales to 40
different countries, and designed new and larger versions.
|
| 1973 |
Appointed a director of Rotork.
|
| 1974 |
Strikes out on his own to develop the Ballbarrow.
Designs a water-filled plastic garden roller, the Waterolla.
|
| 1977 |
The Ballbarrow wins the Building Design Innovation Award.
|
| 1978 |
James invents the Trolleyball - a boat launcher with ball wheels.
James begins to develop his dual cyclone™ technology, after realising his conventional system loses suction when renovating his country house in the Cotswolds.
|
| 1979 to 1984 |
Spends five years
developing the cleaner, and builds 5,127 prototypes of the Dual Cyclone(tm)
vacuum cleaner.
|
| 1983 |
Dyson produces
his first prototype vacuum cleaner, a very post-modern pink machine called the
G-Force, which makes the front cover of Design Magazine in 1983.
|
| 1982 to 1984 |
James Dyson
spends two years trawling the UK and Europe, looking for someone to license the
product. The multinationals are reluctant to invest in the Dyson as it would
terminate the bag replacement market, worth £100 million a year in the UK
alone.
|
| 1985 |
Dyson takes his
product over to Japan where he begins to work alongside a company which also
imports Filofax.
|
| 1986 |
The Japanese start to sell the G-Force.
|
| 1987 |
The G-Force is
displayed at the British Design Exhibition in Vienna.
|
| 1989 |
The G-Force is
included in, and is the poster for, the British Design: New Traditions
exhibition in Rotterdam.
|
| 1990 to 1992 |
James Dyson is
Chairman of Bath College of Higher Education.
|
| 1991 |
Dyson's G-Force
cleaner wins the International Design Fair prize in Japan. The Japanese are so
impressed by its performance that the G-Force becomes a status symbol.
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