This Popular Fabric Was Invented 90 Years Ago By A Man From Iowa

Do you ever think about some of the most popular things in the world and wonder, "Who was the inventor behind that?"

If you've read some of my previous articles about historical events, inventions, or other things, you know I like to say that all roads lead back to Iowa. It's kind of easy to say that about Illinois because of Chicago but with Iowa and people's perception of how nothing happens or comes out of the state, it's insane to see truly how it has shaped the world even to this day.

One of the world's most popular fabrics and materials can trace its roots back to Iowa. This fabric wasn't invented in the state per se, but the man who invented it was born in Iowa and his patent was approved for this incredibly popular fabric 90 years ago.

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Iowa Man Invents Nylon 90 Years Ago

You know what nylon is. Most people think of nylon stockings, or pantyhose which aren't as popular in fashion anymore, when they think of nylon. But nylon is still used in so many different products from clothes and ropes to engines and toothbrushes.

Nylon isn't one of those things that you or I would think about too much but as Jeff Stein with the Iowa Almanac teaches us, nylon might not have been invented without a man from Iowa.

Meet Wallace Hume Carothers. He was born in Burlington, IA on April 27, 1896. He is the creator of nylon but unfortunately didn't get to see what nylon became due to depression and a short life.

In 1928, DuPont opened a laboratory for basic research where Carothers worked after teaching at the University of South Dakota, according to the Iowa Almanac. When the 1930s began, silk was becoming hard to get as the U.S. and Japan began having political and trade troubles.

That's when Carothers and his team at DuPont created a synthetic fiber to replace silk. That fiber became nylon and the patent for nylon was granted 90 years ago on Feb. 28th, 1935. Five years after his invention, nylon stockings were created and nearly 800,000 pantyhose were sold on the first day.

As Jeff Stein reports in the Iowa Almanac, although Carothers knew the success behind creating nylon, he never got to see the beginning of its full potential. Following his favorite sister's death in 1937, Wallace Carothers took his own life just two days after turning 41 and right before his first child was born.

Hear more about Wallace Carothers, the father of nylon and Burlington, Iowa native in the Iowa Almanac for February 28th below.