Herbert Henry Dow

A graduate of the Case School of Applied Science in Cleveland, Ohio, he was a prolific inventor of chemical processes, compounds, and products, notably bromine extraction from sea water, and was a successful businessman.He discovered that brine samples from Canton, Ohio and Midland, Michigan were very rich in bromine, which at the time was a primary ingredient in medicines and was widely used in the fledgeling photographic industry.[2] Following his graduation from Case in 1888, Dow worked for a year as a chemistry professor at Huron Street Hospital College in Cleveland, while continuing his research into the extraction of chemicals from brine.[2] With his new company and new technology, Dow produced bromine very cheaply, and began selling it in the United States for 36 cents per pound.The Germans had made it clear that they would dump the market with cheap bromine if Dow attempted to sell his product abroad.A few months later, an angry Bromkonvention representative visited Dow in his office and reminded him to cease exporting his bromine.Dow Chemical quickly moved to fill the gap for wartime goods, producing magnesium for incendiary flares, monochlorobenzene and phenol for explosives, and bromine for medicines and tear gas.[7] Following the conclusion of the war, Dow began to research the benefits of magnesium, which the company had in large supply.[8] The union bore seven children between 1894 and 1908: Helen, Ruth, Willard, Osborn, Alden B, Margaret and Dorothy Darling.