On This Day in Telephone History February 5TH 1909, Belgian chemist Leo Baekeland announced the creation of Bakelite, the World’s first synthetic plastic. Bakelite is a thermosetting compound of phenol formaldehyde resin and wood saw dust. In 1927, the American Catalin Corporation of New York City acquired the patents for Bakelite. The company modified the Bakelite formula and created a multi-color thermosetting polymer which they trademarked as Catalin.

On This Day in Telephone History February 5TH 1909

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On This Day in Telephone History February 5TH 1909, Belgian chemist Leo Baekeland announced the creation of Bakelite, the World’s first synthetic plastic. Bakelite is a thermosetting compound of phenol formaldehyde resin and wood saw dust. In 1927, the American Catalin Corporation of New York City acquired the patents for Bakelite. The company modified the Bakelite formula and created a multi-color thermosetting polymer which they trademarked as Catalin.