Stainless steel was accidentally discovered in England in 1912. Harry Brearley invented stainless steel, but this was not his original intention, it was a completely accidental product.
Harry Brearley was working for a gun manufacturer and trying to find more durable materials. The inner diameter of the gun wears too quickly due to heat and exhaust gases. He tried adding 10-20% chromium to the steel. He didn't properly handle the failed batches, just left them outside. A few months later, he found these steel was not rusted, so he discovered stainless steel.
Others said that when trying to analyze the steel/chromium mixture under a microscope, he firstly needed to etch it with nitric acid, and found this material was extremely resistant to corrosion.
Instead of wear-resistant steel, he found corrosion-resistant steel.
Anyway, realizing the potentiality of the material he found, he went to a tableware maker to make knives with the new material, and the manager Ernest Stewart changed the material name to "stainless steel", it was the first time this material was called "stainless steel".
Brearley applied for a U.S. patent in 1915 and published an article to introduce stainless steel to the world in New York Times later that year.
Today, stainless steel can be found everywhere in modern world. It is used in everything from the manufacturing, automotive, aerospace and construction industries to surgical instruments, locks and anything that might be exposed to the weather.
