Pilkington plc is the largest glass manufacturer in the United Kingdom. It is based in St Helens, Merseyside and is traded on the London Stock Exchange. It is currently a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index and is a past member of the elite FTSE 100 Index. The materials definition of a glass is a uniform amorphous solid material, usually produced when a suitably viscous molten material cools very rapidly, thereby not giving enough time for a regular crystal lattice to form. ... St Helens is the name of several places: St Helens, Merseyside, which is the home of rugby team St Helens RFC and football (soccer) team St Helens Town F.C. St Helens, Isles of Scilly St Helens, Isle of Wight St. ... Merseyside is a metropolitan county, located in the North West of England, Merseyside is named after the River Mersey and comprises the conurbation by the Mersey estuary centred upon Liverpool. ... The Source by Greyworld, in the new LSE building The London Stock Exchange (abbreviated LSE) is a stock exchange located in London. ... The FTSE 250 Index is a capitalisation weighted index of 250 companies on the London Stock Exchange. ... The Financial Times Stock Exchange Index of 100 Leading Shares, or FTSE 100 Index (pronounced footsie), is a share index of the 100 largest companies listed on the London Stock Exchange. ...

The company was founded in 1826 as a family-run business in St Helens. It was at one time the biggest employer in the northwest industrial town. The distinctive blue-glass head office still dominates the town's skyline. 1826 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ...

Pilkington has turnover of £2.7 billion, with manufacturing operations on five continents, and sales in more than a hundred countries.

In 1957 Pilkington invented the Float Process, a revolutionary method of glass production floating molten glass over a bath of molten tin, abolishing the costly need to polish and grind glass to make it clear. Pilkington then sold the Float Process under licence to the rest of the world. Jump to: navigation, search 1957 was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Float glass is made by melting glass and feeding a thin layer onto a tank of molten tin in a nitrogen atmosphere. ... Jump to: navigation, search General Name, Symbol, Number tin, Sn, 50 Chemical series poor metals Group, Period, Block 14, 5, p Appearance silvery lustrous gray Atomic mass 118. ...

External links

• Official site
• Yahoo profile