Born Birmingham. Initially worked on improved methods of electroplating. 1856 patented Parkesine, a celluloid recognised as the first man-made plastic (chewing gum, shellac and natural rubber are all classified as plastics).
1866 he set up The Parkesine Company at Hackney Wick intending to manufacture Parkesine cheaply in bulk but this was not successful and closed in 1868. Died London.
This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
Alexander Parkes
First plastic in the world, known as 'parkesine', invented by Alexander Parke...
Full name: Dr Alphonse Rene Le Mire de Normandy. Born Rouen, France. He completed a medical course but then devoted himself to chemistry. Came to England in the late 1830s/early 1840s, initially li...
Biostatistician, human geneticist and eugenicist. Born at The Larches, Sparkbrook, Birmingham, a half-cousin of Charles Darwin. An enthusiastic traveller, particularly in Africa. Darwin's publicati...
Scientist, artist, etc. - a polymath, the first "renaissance man". Born in Vinci, Italy (No? Really?). Died in France.
Geologist, educationalist, economist, statesman. Expert on the geography of the Alps. Born 4 Duncan Terrace, of German parentage, grew up in Prague and Vienna. Died in Vienna.
Person, Economist, Education, Politics & Administration, Science, Austria, Czechoslovakia, Switzerland
Physician, physicist and natural philosopher.   Born Colchester. Regarded by some as the father of electrical engineering or electricity and magnetism. Died in London, probably of the bubonic pla...
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