2020-09-10

[public] 902K views, 28.1K likes, dislikes audio only

TED-Ed

Join #TeamSeas! Together, we're going to raise $30M to remove 30M pounds of plastic and trash from our ocean, rivers and beaches. Learn more and get involved here: https://bit.ly/3mrdV3J

Trace the history of the invention of plastic, and how the material ushered in what became known as the plastics century.

--

For centuries, billiard balls were made of ivory from elephant tusks. But when excessive hunting caused elephant populations to decline, they began to look for alternatives. John Wesley Hyatt took up the challenge. In five years, he invented a new material called celluloid, which would become known as the first plastic. Trace the history of the material that ushered in the “plastics century.”

Directed by Sharon Colman.

Animator's website: http://www.sharoncolman.com/

Sign up for our newsletter: http://bit.ly/TEDEdNewsletter

Support us on Patreon: http://bit.ly/TEDEdPatreon

Follow us on Facebook: http://bit.ly/TEDEdFacebook

Find us on Twitter: http://bit.ly/TEDEdTwitter

Peep us on Instagram: http://bit.ly/TEDEdInstagram

View full lesson: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/a-brief-history-of-plastic

Thank you so much to our patrons for your support! Without you this video would not be possible! Joe Giamartino, Filip Dabrowski, Barbara Smalley, Megan Douglas, Tim Leistikow, Andrés Melo Gámez, Renhe Ji, Ka-Hei Law, Michal Salman, Peter Liu, Mark Morris, Catherine Sverko, Misaki Sato, Tan YH, Ph.D., Rodrigo Carballo, SookKwan Loong, Bev Millar, Merit Gamertsfelder, Lex Azevedo, Noa Shore, Taylor Hunter, Kyle Nguyen, MJ Tan Mingjie, Cristóbal Moenne, Goh Xiang Ting Diana, Kevin Wong, Dawn Jordan, Yanira Santamaria, Prasanth Mathialagan, Savannah Scheelings, Susan Herder, Samuel Doerle, David Rosario, Dominik Kugelmann, Siamak H, Tracey Tobkin, Dwight Tevuk, Anthony Kudolo, Mrinalini, Yanuar Ashari, Ivan Todorović, Alex Schenkman, Brittiny Elman, Ryohky Araya, Paul Coupe, David Douglass, Ricardo Paredes, Bill Feaver, Eduardo Briceño and Arturo De Leon.