1820s - vulcanised rubber, gutta percha, parkesine, cellulose
1823 Macintosh uses rubber gum to waterproof cotton and the mac is born
1845 Bewley designs extruder for gutta percha
1850 - First submarine telegraph cable in gutta percha laid between Dover and Calais
1862 Display of Parkesine, predecessor of celluloid (cellulose nitrate), at the 1862 Great International Exhibition in London
1872 Hyatt brothers patented first plastics injection moulding machine
1885 George Eastman Kodak patents machine for producing continuous photographic film based on cellulose nitrate.
1880 Fashion for long hair leads to cellulose nitrate replacing horn as the preferred material for combs
1890 Thermoforming introduced and used to make babies rattles from cellulose nitrate
1892 Viscose silk (rayon) developed by Cross and Bevan (Chardonnet Silk)
1898 Beginning of mass production of rpm gramophone records from shellac
1899 - Krische and Spittler in Germany awarded patent for Casein Plastic from milk. Artefacts introduced at the Plastics Universal Exhibition in 1900
1900 1929 - early synthetics::casein, bakelite, ureas
1909 Casein plastics, derived from milk, developed by Erinoid.
1910 stockings made of viscose (CA) begin to be manufactured in Germany
1915 Queen Mary sees casein products at the British Industries Fair and orders several pieces of jewellery made from it
1916 Rolls Royce begins to use phenol formaldehyde in its car interiors and boasts about it
1919 Eichengrun produce first cellulose acetate moulding powder
1921 Beginning of rapid growth of phenolic mouldings especially for electrical insulation, with addition of phenolic laminates in 1930
1922 Staudinger publishes his work that recognises that plastics are composed of long chain molecules leading to Nobel prize in 1935
1924 Rossiter at British Cyanide develops urea thiourea formaldehyde resins, subsequently commercialised as the first water white transparent thermosetting moulding powder.
1926 Harrods hosts first display of new coloured thermosetting plastic tableware produced by Brookes and Adams, The Streetly Manufacturing Company and Thomas De La Rue and Co.
1926 Eckert and Ziegler patent first commercial modern plastics injection moulding machine.
1929 Bakelite Ltd receives its largest ever order for phenolic moulding powder for the casing of the Siemens telephone
1930 Scotch tape, the first transparent sticky tape invented in US by 3M Company
1932 Screw per-plasticisation in injection moulding patented
1933 Fawcett and Gibson at ICI discover polyethylene
1933 Crawford at ICI develops first commercial synthesis of poly(methyl methacrylate)
1935 Troester in Germany produce first extruder designed for thermoplastics.
1935 Carothers and DuPont patent nylon
1936 - First production of aircraft canopies made from Perspex.
1937 - Columbo and Pasquetti in Italy produce first twin screw extruder machine
1937 First commercial production of polystyrene by IG Farben, Germany
1938 Full scale production of nylon 6 fibre begins in United States
1938 First toothbrush with nylons tufts manufactured
1938 Plunkett (DuPont) discovers PTFE
1939 First commercial production of polyethylene in UK by ICI
1940s - Use of polyethylene in radar
1940 First production of PVC in UK
1940 DuPont introduces polyacrylonitrile (PAN), an early engineering product
1941 Whinfield and Dickson, of the Calico Printer's Association of Manchester, patent "polyethylene terephthalate" (PET); followed by the creation of the first polyester fiber called Terylene.
1942 Super Glue (methyl cyanoacrylate) first discovered by Dr Harry Coover, Eastman Kodak
1943 First pilot plant for polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) ; to be marketed under trade mark Teflon
1945 - The production of LDPE the Sqezy bottle by Monsanto caused a rapid expansion of the industry, with containers produced to replace glass bottles for shampoos and liquid soaps.
1947 Formica melamine faced decorative laminates introduced into the UK
1948 Acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) produced
1948 George deMestral invents Velcro, patented in 1955
1948 Introduction of 12 long playing records made from polyvinyl chloride (pvc)
1949 First Airfix self-assembly model produced, made of polystyrene
1949 High impact polystyrene introduced as a commercial plastic
1949 Launch in USA of Tupperware made from low density polyethylene
1949 Lycra based on polyurethane, invented by DuPont
1950s the polyethylene bag makes its first appearance
1950s Introduction of acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) copolymers
1950 - ICI opens new factory at Redcar to produce Terylene
1953 Commercialisation of polyester fibres introduces the concept of drip dry and non-iron
1954 - Polystyrene foam (introduced by Dow Chemical Co.)
1955 First production of high density polyethylene in UK
1956 Reliant Regal 111, first commercially successful all glass-reinforced-plastic bodied car goes on sale
1956 Eero Saarinens Tulip Chair launched, consisting of seat made of glass-fibre-reinforced plastic.
1956 DuPont files patents for first acetals (POM)
1957 First production of polypropylene by Montecatini using Ziegler-Natta catalysts
1958 First production of polycarbonates (Bayer and General Electric)
1958 Lego patents its stud and block coupling system and produces toys of cellulose acetate, later Acrylonitrile- butadiene-styrene polymer.
1959 Barbie Doll unveiled by Mattel at American International Toy Fair
Early 1960s introduction of water based acrylic paints
1960 Ethylene-vinyl acetate co-polymers launched by DuPont
1962 DuPont launches polyimide films and varnishes
1962 Silicone gel breast implants pioneered successfully
1965 - Kevlarฎ is first developed by DuPont
1966 Blow moulding of fuel tanks introduced
1967 Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) Blow chair designed by Scolari, De Pas and Lomazzifor manufactured by Znaotta
1969 Neil Armstrong plants a nylon flag on the moon.
1970 - First Yellow HDPE pressure pipes for gas introduced into UK by Wavin/British Gas.
1973 - Polyethylene terephthalate beverage bottles introduced
1976 - Plastics in its great variety of forms becomes the most used type of material in the world
1977 Polyaryletheretherketone (PEEK) was first prepared by ICI
1979 Introduction of first commercial mobile/ portable phones
1979 - First PVC-U double glazed windows installed
1980 First production of linear low density polyethylene
1980 - First Blue HDPE pressure pipes for potable water introduced into UK.
1982 First artificial heart made mainly of polyurethane, introduced implanted in a human.
1983 ICI and Bayer launch PEEK, PPS (polyphenyene sulphide), and PES (polyether sulphone)
1987 - BASF in Germany produces a polyacetylene that has twice the electrical conductivity of copper.
1989 - First light-emitting polymers (poly-ethyne) discovered in Cambridge
1990 ICI launches Biopol, the first commercially available biodegradable plastic
1994 Smart car with lightweight flexible integrally coloured polycarbonate panels introduced
1998 Free standing Zanussi Oz fridge, with insulation and outer skins made in one process from polyurethane foam introduced
2000s Nano-Technology applied to polymer and composit applications
2000 - First commercial metallocene catalysed polyolefins introduced.
2005 NASA explores the advantages of a polyethylene based material RFX1, as the material for the spaceship that will send man to Mars
2008 Airbus 380, comprising 22% carbon-fibre reinforced plastics flies into Heathrow
2009 - Boeing 787 (nicknames 'Boeing's Plastic Dream') comes into service, its skin is made up of 100% Plastic composites with plastic making up 50% of all materials in the plane.