Brearley's stainless steel (1913)
Harry Brearley in Sheffield, England, was testing gun-barrel steels when he noticed a chromium alloy that resisted rust. The corrosion resistance was almost a side effect of another search.
Cutlery makers adopted the alloy within a few years.
Stainless steel became a building block of modern industry, from kitchens to chemical plants.
SS-H2 is another corrosion surprise in steel, this time an unexpected manganese layer, hinting at how much chemistry these alloys still hold.
