Which came first: the chicken, or the Silly Putty egg?
Rubber got its name when English scientist Joseph Priestley discovered that a wad of it was good at “rubbing out” pencil mistakes on paper.
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Rubber shortages during World War II prompted the U.S. government to look for a synthetic rubber. An inventor at General Electric added a little boric acid to silicone oil and developed a gooey, bouncy substance. This substance failed as a substitute for rubber, but after the war it became an extremely popular toy known as Silly Putty.
