Home

Leo Hendrik Baekeland, born in Belgium on 14 November,  1863, was one of the most revolutionary chemists of all time. Soon after his birth, Leo Hendrik Baekeland immigrated to the United States where he studied Chemistry for some years before inventing two of the most useful things for mankind, the Velox photographic paper and Bakelite.
It was in 1893 that Baekeland invented Velox, which was the first photographic paper that could be printed in artificial light. The right to velox was sold by Baekeland to Kodak, who, in turn, used his technology to create photographic cameras with rills. A few years later in 1987, Leo Hendrik Baekeland invented an inexpensive, versatile and non-flammable, form of plastic and named it Bakelite after himself. This synthetic polymer had great utilities, being largely used in the making of jewellery, engine parts, game pieces and a dozen of other objects. After inventing many other things and setting up a few factories, this talented chemist, passed away on 23 February, 1944.