Today on Google's home page is a special Google logo, a Google Doodle, for the British Chemist who accidental discovered the first aniline dye: the purple mauveine, Sir William Henry Perkin. It would be his 180th birthday today. He made it possible to color clothing and other materials in an economic manner.
He was born in London on March 12, 1838 and passed at the age of 69 in London on July 14, 1907.
Wikipedia said "through failing in trying to synthesise quinine for the treatment of malaria, he became successful in the field of dyes after his first discovery at the age of 18."
Hence the people wearing purple in the Google Doodle, a color too expensive for most people to wear, he made accessible to almost all. Google wrote:
Born in England on March 12th, 1838, chemist Sir William Henry Perkin accidentally discovered “mauveine,” the first synthetic dye.As an 18-year-old laboratory assistant, Perkin was cleaning out dark muck from a beaker after a failed experiment, when he noticed that the substance left a vivid purple stain when diluted with alcohol. Following his discovery, he focused on the patenting, manufacturing, and commercialization of this purple dye, which he named “mauveine.”
Perkin's timing was remarkable as the textile industry was at a high. Purple clothing was very much in style, but prohibitively expensive for most, not to mention quick to fade. Perkin’s strong and inexpensively produced mauveine finally made this once-exclusive color readily accessible, igniting a violet fashion frenzy - as seen in today’s Doodle by UK-based illustrator Sonny Ross. Even Queen Victoria herself wore a mauveine-dyed gown to the Royal Exhibition of 1862!
Wealthy and successful from his stint in manufacturing, Perkin eventually returned to laboratory research. He was even knighted in 1906, on the 50th anniversary of his serendipitous discovery.
Happy 180th birthday, Sir William Henry Perkin!
Forum discussion at Google+.
