Portland cement is a key ingredient in one of the world’s most common materials

David Saylor, a businessman and co-owner of a cement business in Allentown, Pennsylvania, received the American patent for a new and improved form of cement on this day in 1871.
Called “Portland cement” because it resembled the finished stones of Portland in England, where it was first manufactured, this kind of cement is important even today. Portland cement is a key ingredient in concrete, which is today the second-most-consumed material in the world.
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