History can sometimes take an unexpected turn. One of these curious, revolutionary twists came in the mid-19th century, when the tale of an unassuming everyday object – the billiard ball – ended in cinematic proportions.
Billiard balls were originally made of ivory, and the need to replace this scarce material led to the invention of a new, extraordinary material: celluloid. Considered the first semisynthetic plastic, this substance did more than just pave the way for future plastics – it was also vital in the earliest systems for capturing and projecting moving images.
