Leo Hendrik Baekeland invented plastic.
The first plastic based on a synthetic polymer was made from phenol and formaldehyde. Formaldehyde is the stuff they out in dead bodies to preserve them by the way.
Leo invented plastic in 1907.
Leo was living in New York, New York at the time.
Baekeland lived in the same time period as the Industrial Revolution. He was an inventor who happened to create plastic.
Plastic is made out of a chemical structure.
The problem with plastic is that it wasn't and still isn't biodegradable.