The habit of cleaning teeth twice a day was spreading all over the world like epidemic, and the producers of toothbrushes were short of natural hog bristles. Thus, American chemical company Dupont de Nemours decided to create artificial bristles for toothbrush. A group of scientists under the charge of Wallace Hume Carothers had been working over synthetic fiber for many years. On February 16, 1937 their work was crowned with a patent for nylon. Where does this name come from? It is a secret that probably only those who invented it know. English etymological dictionary traces nylon back to London and New York, while specialists say that the group of Carothers was working in both cities at once. The dictionary of foreign words for school says that Dupont organized a special tender, and nylon outpaced 349 competitors.