Escaping from the French Revolution, Eleuthere Irenee duPont and his family arrived in America in January 1800. Two years later, he founded the E.I. duPont de Nemours Powder Company along the Brandywine River near Wilmington. E.I. duPont reinvested his profits into the fast-growing company. By the 1860s the DuPont Company became the major producer of gunpowder for the United States military, supplying 40 to 50 percent of the powder used by northern troops during the Civil War. So critical was DuPont’s product that the Union stationed several regiments near the powder mills to protect them from the Confederate army. Following the war, the DuPont Company continued to expand and manufacture new products. By the turn of the century, DuPont products included dynamite and "smokeless" powder.
The E.I. du Pont de Nemours Company entered the twentieth century as one of the premier manufacturers of explosives in the United States. After being reorganized under the leadership of Pierre S., Alfred I., and T. Coleman du Pont, the company purchased several smaller companies. In 1912, the U.S. Justice Department successfully argued that these acquisitions had created a monopoly and ordered DuPont to divest some of its interests. As a result, Hercules and Atlas chemical companies were formed and DuPont began looking for new areas in which to expand.
Dr. Wallace Carothers, working at the DuPont Experimental Station, discovered Fiber 66, the first synthetic fiber, in 1935. Because of its strength and elasticity, nylon made excellent hosiery. During World War II, manufacturers used it in hundreds of new products. The textile industry still uses nylon in many ways. That was only the first of many synthetic fibers developed by DuPont.
