Waldo Semon

During his 37-year career with B.F. Goodrich Co., Semon invented vinyl, made from polyvinyl chloride. "People then thought of PVC as worthless," Semon once said. "They'd throw it in the trash." But, by heating PVC in a solvent, Semon produced vinyl, which was flexible, elastic, waterproof, fire resistant, and did not conduct electricity. It's now the second most-used plastic in the world, with some 44 billion pounds produced each year. Semon was awarded 116 patents by the time he retired in 1963, but strangely he isn't known as much for vinyl as another everyday product: bubble gum. "Bubble gum came about as I was asked to create whatever I could from rubber," he said in 1995. "It looked just like ordinary gum, except that it would blow these great big bubbles. Unfortunately, B.F. Goodrich thought that was a defect and that nobody would buy it." He proved them wrong. Semon, who was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 1995, died May 26 in Ohio at age 100. From This is True for 23 May 1999 Suggestions for further reading: Peterson Field Guide to Birds of North America by Roger Tory Peterson Amazon Price: $16.38 Customer Review: Got it for hubby who saw it at a friends home and HE LOVES IT, uses it every time a bird flies into the yard!!   Barron's Spanish-English Dictionary (Barron's Bilingual Dictionaries) Amazon Price: $11.55 Customer Review: This is a high class dictionary with modern day words. It also has a nice summary of Spanish grammar. English-speaking natives believe that Spanish grammar is pure "insanity." We, Spanish-speaking natives believe that English pronunciation is beyo...   Greece Athens & the Mainland (Eyewitness Travel Guides) by DK Publishing Amazon Price: $16.50 Customer Review: I have several of the Eyewitness travel guides. The are wonderful resources for planning travels and reminiscing!   National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Rocks and Minerals (Na... by NATIONAL AUDUBON SOCIETY Amazon Price: $13.57 Customer Review: This field guide is great!!! It has pictures of minerals, Great info about the minerals. And is small enough to fit easily in you pack or jacket pocket. It has really come in handy in the field   Reef Fish Identification: Florida, Caribbean, Bahamas by Paul Humann, Ned DeLoach Amazon Price: $26.37 Customer Review: While diving, one sees SO many different fish, especially the newbie divers. Take a mental picture, and finding the fish in this book is a snap. Although I have been diving a long time, I still refer to this book, and you always find one on dive bo...   Newsfeed display by CaRP

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