Want to create an interactive transcript for this episode?
Podcast: Today In History with The Retrospectors
Episode: The Plastic That Changed The World
Description: On this day in 1909 Leo Baekeland announced his invention of Bakelite to the American Chemical Society.Having already earned a fortune selling his photographic patent to Kodak, the Belgian-born chemist had opened his own lab in Yonkers, experimenting with formaldehyde and phenol. The resulting material, which he called Bakelite, could be used in everything from toys to automobiles, and was marketed as ‘The Material of 1,000 Uses!’In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly uncover the explosive billiard balls of the post-ivory era; explain why plastic was a game-changer for the costume jewelry market; and...