Nylon is a silky, plastic polymer material. It is a widely used material because of its high strength. Nylon is used in the manufacture of items such as fishing nets, tooth brushes, ropes and parachute canopies. It is also used in the manufacture of ladies stockings. Prior to the invention of nylon, ladies stockings were usually made of silk. The semi-synthetic material, rayon, had been invented by the Swiss inventor Georges Audemars in 1855. It was called artificial silk but it proved to be unsuitable for the manufacture of a wide range of products.
The DuPont Company of Wilmington Delaware, USA began research to improve the quality of rayon in the early 1920’s. During the research a team of chemists discovered nylon. The first nylon was produced by Wallace Carothers in 1935. Development of the new product continued during the following years. In 1938 DuPont began the construction of a new facility near Delaware that was capable of producing large amounts nylon.
Nylon was first produced Wallace Carothers at the DuPont Company of Wilmington Delaware, USA in the year 1935 On This Day.
