This week in patent history marks 200 years since the original patent was issued for the production of Portland Cement. Made from limestone and clay, it is the most commonly available cement, and versions of the invention are still used all around the world.

Joseph Aspdin was a multi-generational bricklayer and stonemason turned inventor, and entrepreneur from Leeds, County of York, England. He was not the first to pulverize limestone to create an artificial stone, but his patent helped him secure his standing as the father of modern cement. He named his product after the Isle of Portland in Dorset, England, as his finished product resembled a stone found in its quarry. 

In October of 1824, he was granted British Patent BP 5022, entitled “An Improvement in the Mode of Producing an Artificial Stone.” By today’s standards, the pulverization process by which Aspdin mixed and dried limestone, clay, and other earth to create the powder that could be used to produce an on-demand artificial stone may seem elementary, but the overall impact of the easy and widely used product was enormous.

Perhaps a first in sustainability practices for manufacturers, Aspdin’s patent indicated that he gathered the limestone that served as his main ingredient by sweeping existing roads in various stages of disrepair.

The low cost and widespread obtainability of the naturally occurring materials used in Portland Cement have contributed to its success. Forms of Portland Cement have been both imported and manufactured all over the world. Aspdin’s product has contributed to building our modern world as well as my recently poured sidewalk.