Belgian chemist <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leo_Baekeland" id="mwiw" rel="mw:WikiLink" title="Leo Baekeland">Leo Baekeland</a> announces the creation of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bakelite" id="mwjA" rel="mw:WikiLink" title="Bakelite">Bakelite</a>, the world's first synthetic <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plastic" id="mwjQ" rel="mw:WikiLink" title="Plastic">plastic</a>.