Encyclopedia of Chemistry

John Wesley Hyatt (November 28, 1837 – 10 May, 1920) was a U.S. inventor. He is mainly known for simplifying the production of celluloid.

Hyatt was born in Starkey, New York, and began working as a printer when he was 16. Later, he became an inventor, receiving several hundred patents. While researching a substitute for ivory to produce billiard balls, he experimented with Parkesine, a material first created by Alexander Parkes. The result was a commercially viable way of producing Celluloid which he patented in 1869, arguably the first industrial plastic, and Hyatt formed the Celluloid Manufacturing Company (originally the Albany Dental Plate Company) in 1870.

Hyatt's other patented inventions include roller bearings and a multiple-stitch sewing machine.