1938 – Wallace H Carothers invented nylon.
Wallace
Carothers can be considered the father of the science of man-made
polymers and the man responsible for the invention of nylon and
neoprene.
The man was a brilliant chemist, inventor and scholar.
Wallace
Carothers was born in Iowa and first studied accounting and later
studied science (while teaching accounting) at Tarkio College in
Missouri.
While still an undergraduate student, Wallace Carothers became the head of the chemistry department.
Wallace Carothers was talented in chemistry. He received both a Master's degree and Ph.D. from the University of Illinois and then became a professor at Harvard, where he started his research into chemical structures of polymers in 1924.
In 1928, the DuPont chemical company opened a research laboratory for the development of artificial materials, deciding that basic research was the way to go — not a common path for a company to follow at the time.
In 1935, DuPont patented the new fiber known as nylon.
Wallace Hume Carothers died in April 1937. It was reported as a suicide. He held more than fifty patents.
Nylon, the miracle fiber, was introduced to the world in 1938.
In a 1938 Fortune magazine article, it was written that "nylon breaks the basic elements like nitrogen and carbon out of coal, air, and water to create a completely new molecular structure of its own. —Source: Thoughtco
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Listed by Inventiongen.com —
“This invention represents a fraction of the countless contributions made by American inventors, showcasing the nation’s commitment to innovation and progress across diverse disciplines,”
America truly is exceptional, and we’ve only just begun. ///