On April 6, 1938, Dr. Roy Plankt accidentally invented the Teflon compound.
It happened while he was working in a lab in New Jersey, when he happened to discover with his assistant the compound polytetrafluoroethylene called Teflon for short. Teflon is a slippery material that is often used to coat Teflon pans. It prevents dirt from sticking to the pan even when heated.
The first Teflon-coated pan was marketed in the United States in 1961.
Dr. Plankt was added to the Inventors' Hall of Fame in 1985.
In the 1980s the word Teflon also became a cultural concept when US President Ronald Reagan was called "the president of Teflon", the one that nothing bad will stick to and has the ability to come out of scandals without a single stain.
Today Teflon can be found everywhere, in metal and fabric coatings, in industry, in space, and even in clothing and medicines and of course, in almost every kitchen.
