Laminated glass is a type of safety glass consisting of two or more layers of glass with one or more thin polymer interlayers between them which prevent the glass from breaking into large sharp pieces. Breaking produces a characteristic "spider web" cracking pattern when the impact is not enough to completely pierce the glass.
Automobile windshield with "spider web" cracking typical of laminated safety glass.
Firefighters breaking through a laminated windshield
Safety glass is glass with additional safety features that make it less likely to break, or less likely to pose a threat when broken. Common designs include toughened glass, laminated glass, and wire mesh glass. Toughened glass was invented in 1874 by Francois Barthelemy Alfred Royer de la Bastie. Wire mesh glass was invented in 1892 by Frank Shuman. Laminated glass was invented in 1903 by the French chemist Édouard Bénédictus (1878–1930).
Broken safety glass shows a characteristic circular "spider web" pattern
Broken tempered glass showing the shape of the granular chunks
Broken laminated safety glass, with the interlayer exposed at the top of the picture
Wire-mesh-reinforced glass in the Lloyd's Building