In 1908, Belgian inventor Leo
Baekeland created Bakelite, the first plastic, by combining phenols and
formaldehyde; it was used originally as an alternative to ivory billiard balls.
Light, durable and colorful, plastic today feeds a $260 billion industry, used
in a seemingly endless array of products from phones to keyboards, credit cards
to Tupperware. Plastic spin-offs include neoprene, Plexiglas, nylon, Teflon and
bulletproof kevlar.
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