Leo Hendrik Baekeland (1863-1944)

Leo Hendrik Baekeland (Ghent, November 14, 1863 - February 23, 1944) was a Belgian-American chemist who invented Velox photographic paper (1893) and Bakelite (1907), an inexpensive, nonflammable, versatile, and popular plastic. Public domain photo from http://www. ... Public domain photo from http://www. ... Geography Country Belgium Community Flemish Community Region Flemish Region Province East Flanders Arrondissement Ghent Coordinates Area 156. ... November 14 is the 318th day of the year (319th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 47 days remaining. ... Year 1863 (MDCCCLXIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Saturday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... February 23 is the 54th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1944 (MCMXLIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday. ... A chemist pours from a round-bottom flask. ... FC Utrecht is a Dutch football, club which was founded on July 1, 1970. ... Year 1893 (MDCCCXCIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... Bakelite is a material based on the thermosetting phenol formaldehyde resin, polyoxybenzylmethylenglycolanhydride developed in 1907–1909 by Dr. Leo Baekeland. ... 1907 (MCMVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Wednesday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ...

Born in Ghent, Belgium, Baekeland was the son of a cobbler and a maid. Upon completing his doctorate at the University of Ghent, he emigrated to America in 1889. This page is about the Belgian city. ... Ghent University (in Dutch, Universiteit Gent, abbreviated UGent) is one of the two large Flemish universities. ... Year 1889 (MDCCCLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Thursday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ...

Baekeland sold his patent for Velox photographic paper to the president of Kodak, George Eastman, for $1,000,000. Eastman Kodak Company (NYSE: EK) is a large multinational public company producing photographic equipment. ... A 1954 U.S. stamp featuring George Eastman. ...

The invention of Bakelite is the beginning of the Age of Plastics. Bakelite was made from phenol (then known as carbolic acid) and formaldehyde. These can be mixed, heated, and then either molded or extruded. The Nobel Prize in Chemistry winning German Adolf von Baeyer had experimented with this material in 1872, but did not complete its development. Bakelite took the industry by storm after 1907. Plastic covers a range of synthetic or semisynthetic polymerization products. ... Phenol, also known under an older name of carbolic acid, is a colourless crystalline solid with a typical sweet tarry odor. ... The chemical compound formaldehyde (also known as methanal) is a gas with a pungent smell. ... This is a list of Nobel Prize laureates in Chemistry from 1901 to 2006. ... Johann Friedrich Wilhelm Adolf von Baeyer (October 31, 1835 - August 20, 1917) was a German chemist who synthesized indigo, and was the 1905 recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry . ... Year 1872 (MDCCCLXXII) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian Calendar (or a leap year starting on Wednesday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... 1907 (MCMVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Wednesday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ...

Bakelite was the first plastic invented that held its shape after being heated. Radios, telephones and electrical insulators were made of Bakelite because of its properties of insulation and heat-resistance. Soon it penetrated nearly all branches of industry. The telephone is a telecommunications device which is used to transmit and receive sound (most commonly voice and speech) across distance. ... // Definition An Insulator is a material or object which resists the flow of heat (thermal insulators) or electric charge (electrical insulators). ...

The invention of Bakelite

When asked why he entered the field of synthetic resins, Baekeland answered "to make money". His first objective was to find a replacement for shellac (made from the excretion of lac beetles). Chemists had begun to recognize that many of the natural resins and fibers were polymers. Baekeland began to investigate the reactions of phenol and formaldehyde. He first produced a soluble phenol-formaldehyde shellac (called "Novolak" that never became a market success). Then he turned to developing a binder for asbestos, which at that time was molded with rubber. By controlling the pressure and temperature applied to phenol and formaldehyde, he could produce his dreamed-of hard moldable plastic: bakelite. The official name of Bakelite was polyoxybenzylmethylenglycolanhydride. Look up shellac in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Later life

Baekeland became a multi-millionaire as a result of the explosion in the manufacture and use of Bakelite. Baekeland visited England in 1916 and met James Swinburne, who almost ten years earlier had coincidentally experimented with and created a material identical to Bakelite only to find that Baekeland had been awarded the patent the day before. Baekeland made Swinburne the chairman of the new Bakelite Limited, his British subsidiary. Baekeland appeared on the cover of TIME Magazine' on September 22, 1924. Motto: (French for God and my right) Anthem: God Save the King/Queen Capital London (de facto) Largest city London Official language(s) English (de facto) Unification    - by Athelstan AD 927  Area    - Total 130,395 km² (1st in UK)   50,346 sq mi  Population    - 2006 est. ... 1916 (MCMXVI) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar). ... Sir James Swinburne (February 28, 1858-March 30, 1958) was a British electrical engineer and manufacturer. ... (Clockwise from upper left) Time magazine covers from May 7, 1945; July 25, 1969; December 31, 1999; September 14, 2001; and April 21, 2003. ... September 22 is the 265th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (266th in leap years). ... 1924 (MCMXXIV) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar). ...

Decline and death

As Baekeland got older, he became more eccentric, getting into fierce battles with his son (and presumptive heir) over salary and other issues. He sold the General Bakelite Company to Union Carbide in 1939, and at his son's prompting, he retired. He became a recluse, eating all of his meals from cans and becoming obsessed with developing an immense tropical garden on his Florida estate. He died of a cerebral hemorrhage in a sanatorium in Beacon, New York. Baekeland is buried in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Sleepy Hollow, New York. This article or section is incomplete and may require expansion and/or cleanup. ... A stroke or cerebrovascular accident (CVA) occurs when the blood supply to a part of the brain is suddenly interrupted by occlusion (an ischemic stroke- approximately 90% of strokes), by hemorrhage (a hemorrhagic stroke - less than 10% of strokes) or other causes. ... Nickname: Tree City Location in the state of New York Country United States State New York County Dutchess Government  - Mayor Clara Lou Gould (R) Area  - City  4. ... Sleepy Hollow Cemetery is the resting place of numerous famous figures, including Washington Irving, whose story The Legend of Sleepy Hollow is set in the adjacent Old Dutch Burying Ground. ... Sleepy Hollow is a village in Westchester County, New York, United States. ...

Name

Baekeland told The Literary Digest: "The name is a Netherlandish (Flemish) word meaning 'Land of Beacons,' Funk & Wagnalls, 1936.) The Literary Digest was an influential general-interest magazine in the early 20th century United States. ...

External links

• Bakelite Museum Bakelite: The Material of a Thousand Uses (including a short biography of Baekeland)
• Chemical Achievers: Leo Hendrik Baekeland
• The Time 100: Leo Baekeland
• Biography resource dedicated to Leo Baekeland
• Virtual Bakelite Museum off Ghent 1907-2007