1860

Frederick Edward Walton, 1860

Frederick forgot to put the lid on a can of linseed oil he'd been using as paint thinner. Eureka...he discovered a skin of solidified oil had formed on top of the oil, which would lead to his invention of a new material he named linoleum.

In 1878, he sued Nairn & Co. for trademark infringement. The British Courts ruled against him when it came to light he'd never registered linoleum as a trademark and by that time the word had become commonplace.

Floored...the first brand name to be ruled generic!

Photo: Wikimedia

Believed to be in Public Domain