A Brief History Of Stainless Steel

The birth of steel goes back about 4000 years when iron-based weapons began to take the place of bronze due to their increased strengths. For thousands of years, the basis of steel was used without really knowing why it was better than its alternatives. Big breakthroughs came in the late 19th and early 20th century, as steel began to be commercially produced. In 1856, Henry Bessemer came up with a new way to reduce carbon content by introducing oxygen into molten iron. This led to a variety of developments in steel, and the U.S Steel corporation was born in 1901. In 1904, a French scientist, Leon Gillet, developed a mix of alloys that made up stainless steel. In 1913, Harry Brearley documented this process, noting the corrosion resistance, and patenting the first martensitic. Enter: Stainless Steel:

Originally coined “rustless steel,” stainless steel soon began to make waves in marketplaces due to its shiny surface and tremendous strength. It was a true marvel of technology and has really modernized industries like transportation and medicine. Its vast benefits make everyday life easier in ways we don’t even think about.

Most people hear the word stainless or the term stainless steel and their mind jumps to the new fridge or kitchen appliance they were just checking out in a catalog. Stainless Steel, however, is used in thousands of different applications in markets from aerospace to medical and is used for very specific reasons. So, what is it?