Ancient Roman architecture
Although concrete had been used on a minor scale in Mesopotamia, Roman architects perfected Roman concrete and used it in buildings where it could stand on its own and support a great deal of weight. The first use of concrete by the Romans was in the town of Cosa sometime after 273 BC. Ancient Roman concrete was a mixture of lime mortar, aggregate, pozzolana, water, and stones, and was stronger than previously-used concretes. The ancient builders placed these ingredients in wooden frames where they hardened and bonded to a facing of stones or (more frequently) bricks. The aggregates used were often much larger than in modern concrete, amounting to rubble.
Louis Vicat
Vicat studied the setting of mortars and developed his own. The first building using the modern mortar is the bridge of Souillac (Dordogne) erected in 1818.
The material was popular but was superseded by Portland cement. He also invented the Vicat needle that is still in use for determination of setting time of concretes and cements. His son, Joseph Vicat, founded Vicat Cement, which is today a large international cement manufacturing company.