A closer look

Your shiny kitchen cutlery is a direct byproduct of aggressive weapons manufacturing. In 1913, a metallurgist was desperately trying to invent a new alloy that would stop military rifle barrels from eroding after repeated firing. He tossed dozens of failed, rusty metal scraps into a yard pile. Months later, he noticed one specific rejected piece containing chromium hadn't rusted at all in the rain, accidentally birthing the modern cutlery industry.