E.I. Du Pont de Nemours & Co. - Gun Powder and Munitions Specimen Bond

E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company, widely known as DuPont, was established in July 1802 in Wilmington, Delaware, as a gunpowder manufacturing facility by the French-American chemist and industrialist Éleuthère Irénée du Pont de Nemours. Throughout the 20th century, DuPont was instrumental in the development of numerous polymers, including Vespel, neoprene, nylon, Corian, Teflon, Mylar, Kapton, Kevlar, Zemdrain, M5 fiber, Nomex, Tyvek, Sorona, Corfam, and Lycra. The company also pioneered the creation of Freon (chlorofluorocarbons) for the refrigeration sector, along with other refrigerants. Additionally, DuPont was involved in the production of synthetic pigments and paints, such as ChromaFlair. By 2014, DuPont ranked as the fourth-largest chemical company globally in terms of market capitalization and the eighth-largest by revenue. On August 31, 2017, it merged with the Dow Chemical Company, resulting in the formation of DowDuPont.

The inception of DuPont occurred in 1802, when Éleuthère Irénée du Pont utilized funds acquired in France and gunpowder machinery imported from his homeland. He established the company at the Eleutherian Mills, situated on the Brandywine Creek near Wilmington, Delaware, shortly after relocating with his family from France to escape the French Revolution and the religious persecution faced by Huguenot Protestants. Initially focused on gunpowder production, du Pont recognized that North America's industry was significantly behind that of Europe. The company experienced rapid growth, eventually becoming the primary supplier of gunpowder to the United States military by the mid-19th century, providing between one-third and one-half of the powder utilized by the Union Army during the American Civil War. The Eleutherian Mills site is now preserved as a museum and designated as a National Historic Landmark.