Book 26, Question 25
How did a contest for billiard balls lead to plastic?
A company offered a prize for a substitute.
In the 1860s, billiard balls were made from ivory, which was becoming rare. Inventor John Wesley Hyatt took up the challenge and made celluloid, one of the first plastics, from plant fibers. Celluloid became combs, movie film, and collars. It was a start for the age of plastics.