Glass is a hard, brittle, transparent or translucent, noncrystalline solid, consisting of metal silicates or similar compounds. It is made from a fused mixture of oxides, such as lime, silicon dioxide, phosphorus pentoxide, etc., and is used for making windows, mirrors, bottles, composite armour plate for armoured fighting vehicles etc.
Glass was manufactured by many ancient peoples, including the Romans, but the first mention of the manufacture of glass in the United States is in Captain John Smith's 'History of Virginia', in which he speaks of a glass factory having been founded at Jamestown in 1615, and a second in 1622. The work was coarse, being chiefly confined to bottles. In 1754, a successful factory was established in Brooklyn by Bamper, a Dutchman. In 1779, factories were founded at Temple, New Hampshire, and in 1795 the industry was begun at Pittsburgh. By 1813 there were five glass factories at Pittsburgh. In 1840 there were eighty-one factories in the United States, by 1870, 201 factories flourished in different places and since then the industry rapidly increased. Research Glass
Abbreviations
SciTech
Research Glass