2. Plastics
Leo Hendrik Baekeland was born in 1863 in Ghent, Belgium but was an American chemist and inventor. He was the man to accidentally invent plastic, which was first called Bakelite. He was attempting to make synthetic shellac, which was used for insulation and originally made from East Asian beetles–making it expensive to reproduce. Instead of buying the expensive material he decided to develop an alternative, and discovered Bakelite. Bakelite didn’t experience physical change due to temperature change, like most plastics did. Although this was an immensely helpful invention, it’s up to us to use it responsibly.