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Eleuthere Irenee du Pont (1771)close

The founder of one of the world's largest chemical companies, Eleuthere Irenee du Pont, was born in Wilmington, Delaware. Du Pont recognized the need to improve the quality of gunpowder available in the United States. He started a gunpowder works along the Brandywine River. By the year of his death, it had become a major American business, producing over 1 million pounds of gunpowder per year. Since du Pont's death, his company has grown from an explosives manufacturer to a major company producing science-based solutions to food, health care, electronics, apparel, and transportation.

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