In the 1800’s, Billiards was a popular table game.
The balls used in this game were made of Ivory, which was expensive.
And carving these balls required expertise skills and time.
In 1863, a cash prize of $10,000 was offered by a maker of billiard balls to anyone who can come up
with a substitute for Ivory.
$10,000 at that time was a big deal.
The news spread across the country like a wildfire.
A printer from Albany, New York, by the name John Wesley Hyatt accepted the challenge.
For many years he worked tirelessly for finding an alternate solution to the ivory balls.
First, he tried molding balls of sawdust and glue.
But it didn’t work.
Then he coated the balls with a liquid that dried hard and smooth.
The liquid he used was a byproduct of alcohol and ether to cotton treated with acids. The combination is called as nitrocellulose.
John tried his best experimenting with this liquid and even added Ivory dust to it.
Still, he was not able to achieve the desired results.
Then he tried mixing the camphor (a substance from a tree) with the alcohol.
The output was a soft solid material.
He put this solid into a mold, heated it while pressing it hard, and cooled it down.
After this process was completed, he opened the mold and took out a hard, shiny lump of a ball.
He called this material as celluloid.
But he did not win the cash prize of $10,000.
Because it took 7 years to complete this process and the offer has expired.
And the other reason was that the balls behaved unpredictably.
But his invention did not end up in a waste.
He opened up a new Industry that would eventually change the World.
He launched the industry of Plastic.
The celluloid was the base for making plastic products.
In 1870, he formed the Albany Dental Company to manufacture billiard balls, false teeth, piano
keys, etc.
Since then, the Plastic had been evolved by many chemists and scientists.
It became an essential material in almost every industry.
The search for cheaper billiard balls led to the invention of plastic.
Keep going and success will find you.
The balls used in this game were made of Ivory, which was expensive.
And carving these balls required expertise skills and time.
In 1863, a cash prize of $10,000 was offered by a maker of billiard balls to anyone who can come up
with a substitute for Ivory.
$10,000 at that time was a big deal.
The news spread across the country like a wildfire.
A printer from Albany, New York, by the name John Wesley Hyatt accepted the challenge.
For many years he worked tirelessly for finding an alternate solution to the ivory balls.
First, he tried molding balls of sawdust and glue.
But it didn’t work.
Then he coated the balls with a liquid that dried hard and smooth.
The liquid he used was a byproduct of alcohol and ether to cotton treated with acids. The combination is called as nitrocellulose.
John tried his best experimenting with this liquid and even added Ivory dust to it.
Still, he was not able to achieve the desired results.
Then he tried mixing the camphor (a substance from a tree) with the alcohol.
The output was a soft solid material.
He put this solid into a mold, heated it while pressing it hard, and cooled it down.
After this process was completed, he opened the mold and took out a hard, shiny lump of a ball.
He called this material as celluloid.
But he did not win the cash prize of $10,000.
Because it took 7 years to complete this process and the offer has expired.
And the other reason was that the balls behaved unpredictably.
But his invention did not end up in a waste.
He opened up a new Industry that would eventually change the World.
He launched the industry of Plastic.
The celluloid was the base for making plastic products.
In 1870, he formed the Albany Dental Company to manufacture billiard balls, false teeth, piano
keys, etc.
Since then, the Plastic had been evolved by many chemists and scientists.
It became an essential material in almost every industry.
The search for cheaper billiard balls led to the invention of plastic.
Keep going and success will find you.
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