February 1909 - February 5, 1909 (Friday)

February 5, 1909 (Friday)

• At a meeting of the American Chemical Society at the Chemists' Club at 108 W. 55th Street in New York, Dr. Leo Baekeland announced his synthesis of a new chemical, obybenzyl-methylenglycolanhydride, which he called Bakelite. The polymer that Baekeland had created was "the first commercially useful artificial substance", and the first plastic.
• Clark County, Nevada, including Las Vegas, was created from the southern half of Lincoln County, by legislative action effective July 1, 1909
• Germany's legation (embassy) in Chile was destroyed by fire, and a charred body, thought to be that of Chancellor Wilhelm Beckert, was found in the ruins. After an investigation showed that a large amount of money had been embezzled, and that the corpse was not Beckert's, a manhunt for the diplomat began. Beckert was caught one week later in Chillán, and the victim turned out to be Exequiel Tapia, a Chilean porter employed at the legation. Germany turned its former diplomat to the Chilean justice system, court, and Beckert was executed on July 5, 1910.