William Henry Perkin
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Sir William Henry Perkin was an English chemist and entrepreneur best known for his serendipitous discovery of the first commercial synthetic organic dye, mauveine, made from aniline. Though he failed
Perkin in 1906
Professor Charles Rees wearing a bow tie dyed with an original sample of mauveine while holding a Royal Society of Chemistry journal named after Perkin
The craze for aniline dyes, satirised in this George du Maurier cartoon
Section of Coal Tar Colour Works at Greenford
Mauveine
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Mauveine, also known as aniline purple and Perkin's mauve, was one of the first synthetic dyes. It was discovered serendipitously by William Henry Perkin in 1856 while he was attempting to synthesise
William Henry Perkin
…1838 – 14 July 1907) was an English chemist and entrepreneur best known for his serendipitous discovery of the first commercial synthetic organic dye, mauveine, made from aniline. Though he failed in trying to synthesise quinine for the treatment of malaria, he became successful in the field of dyes after his…
Letter from Perkin's son, with a sample of dyed silk