Bakelite, the first plastic made from synthetic components, was developed by the Belgian-American chemist Leo Baekeland in Yonkers, New York, in 1907. In 1931, the Bakelite Corporation gave the Smithsonian several items made of Bakelite. This package of sheets of Formica was part of that donation. Invented in 1912, Formica laminate is a fabric coated with Bakelite.