Plastic was originally called by several early names depending on type, but first synthetic plastic was called Parkesine when invented by Alexander Parkes in 1856, made from cellulose nitrate and considered first man-made plastic, exhibited at 1862 Great London Exposition. Later, John Wesley Hyatt invented improved version called Celluloid in 1869, made from cellulose nitrate and camphor, used for billiard balls and film, considered first commercially successful plastic. The first fully synthetic plastic, invented by Leo Baekeland in 1907, was called Bakelite, made from phenol formaldehyde, trademarked as Bakelite, used for electrical insulators and household items, marking start of modern plastics industry. The term plastic itself comes from Greek plastikos meaning capable of being shaped or molded, but early plastics were called by trade names like Parkesine, Celluloid, Bakelite, and later Vinylite and Lucite. Before synthetic plastics, natural plastics like shellac and gutta-percha were used. So plastic was originally called Parkesine as first man-made plastic, then Celluloid as first commercial, then Bakelite as first fully synthetic plastic that gave rise to modern term plastic for moldable materials.
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