Plastic 1907
Leo Baekeland was born in Belgium in 1863 and went on to study chemistry at the University of Ghent. After that he went on to work at a number of universities and made a name for himself as the inventor of Velox photographic paper. Not content with just one monumental invention to his name he sought out a new area of research. He turned to the field of synthetic resins because he saw it as an opportunity to make money.
He sought out to investigate the reactions of phenol and formaldehyde. He followed through all the previous research on the subject and then expanded it. The first thing he noticed was that one of his formulas might have been adequate as a synthetic replacement for shellac (which at the time was only made from the excretion of lac beetles). However, no matter what he tried the properties remained inferior and it never became a success on the market. He continued working with it and during one experiment, instead of a shellac, he created a polymer.
The polymer was very unique in that it did not melt under heat and maintained its shape even under stress. He called it Bakelite and it became the first synthetic material that really stood on its own and was not created to mimic something else. It was the first fully synthetic plastic and it was the first one to maintain its shape after being heated. It’s heat resistance, strength and electrical insulation meant that nearly every industry could find a use for the new material.