TIL in 1907, chemist Leo Baekeland accidentally overheated a mixture of chemicals while trying to find a substitute for shellac. Instead, he created Bakelite, the first fully synthetic plastic, which transformed manufacturing and paved the way for the modern plastics and polymer industry.

https://www.acs.org/education/whatischemistry/landmarks/bakelite.html
#til #todayilearned
https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/1gmh3g2/til_in_1907_chemist_leo_baekeland_accidentally/