An American chemist, inventor, and manufacturer, Leo Hendrik Baekeland (1863-1944) invented Bakelite, the first plastic to be used widely in industry. Leo Hendrik Baekeland was born in 1863 in Ghent, Belgium. He took a bachelor of science degree from...

Leo Hendrik Baekeland was born November 14, 1863 in Ghent, Belgium. He graduated from high school first in his class when he was 16 and earned a scholarship to the University of Ghent. At 21 he received his doctorate degree with highest honors. He...

1863-1944 Belgian-American Chemist A1940 Time magazine article called Leo Hendrik Baekeland the "Father of Plastic," and with good reason. His invention of the first synthetic plastic, Bakelite, proved cheaper and more versatile than...

Leo Hendrik Baekeland (Ghent, November 14, 1863 - February 23, 1944) was a Belgian-American chemist who invented Velox photographic paper (1893) and Bakelite (1907), an inexpensive, nonflammable, versatile, and popular plastic[1][2]. Born in Ghent,...

By all accounts, Leo Baekeland had a pretty good idea that he had invented something incredible 100 years ago, when he filed for a patent on Bakelite, the first synthetic plastic. But if we could go back in time and chat with...

When Leo Hendrik Baekeland invented Bakelite in 1907, he changed the world - ushering in the Age of Plastics and transforming the way people lived. The phenolic resin took off first as a superior, easily moldable insulator against heat and electrical current,...

Strap on your PVC boots, hike up your nylon stockings. It's time to celebrate the 100th birthday of the world's first entirely synthetic material, one that revolutionized manufacturing, transportation, fashion and more.Plastic.An exhibition opening Wednesday at London's Science Museum looks to a future that includes...