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The Time 100: Leo Baekeland
Profile of Belgian-American chemist Leo Baekeland, who developed in 1907 the first all-artificial plastic, which he called Bakelite. Includes a discussion of his attempts to create artificial shellac, which lead to his creation of Bakelite. Bakelite was advertised as "'the material of a thousand uses.' It became the stuff of everything from cigar holders and rosary beads to radio housings, distributor caps and telephone casings." From Time magazine.
http://www.time.com/time/time100/scientist/profile/baekeland.html

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