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soda water
When Priestley began his research on the properties of gases in the 1770s, he was living next to a brewery, giving him access to an ample supply of carbon dioxide. -
cocoa powder.
He patented his method in 1828 and further refined the powder by treating it with alkaline salts to increase its solubility -
bleach.
Berthollet was a French chemist who researched dyes and bleaches, which led to him introducing the use of chlorine as bleach. -
caffeine
French chemist Robiquet also identified the properties of codeine, which is a powerful molecule used in medicine as a cough suppressant and analgesic drug. -
Bunsen burner
The Bunsen burner is commonly used in school laboratories to heat chemicals. Its fuel is natural gas, which is almost pure methane, CH4. Methane is a hydrocarbon. So the Bunsen burner has an air hole that allows complete or incomplete combustion -
first artificial sweetener
A former president of Johns Hopkins University, Remsen is credited with the discovery of the popular artificial sweetener known as saccharin. Today, saccharin is widely used in the U.S., sweetening everything from diet soft drinks to toothpaste -
solar panel.
Ciamician had a solar panel on his roof that illuminated one light bulb from his laboratory. He presented a paper to Congress in 1912 about using solar power. -
plastic
A few years later in 1907, Dr. Baekeland invented Bakelite, considered the first plastic, by mixing together carbolic acid and formaldehyde. -
nylon.
DuPont patented the thread as 'nylon' in 1935, and Carothers became the first organic chemist to be elected to the National Academy of Sciences. -
Penicillin
in 1939 it took Australian pharmacologist Howard Florey and his team of chemists to figure out a way of purifying penicillin in useable quantities.