Polyester was first produced in England in the early 1930s under the name Terylene. In 1946, DuPont acquired the license to produce polyester in the US under the name Dacron. Lycra was invented in 1959 by chemist Joseph Shivers and patented by DuPont, who named it Lycra. It provides elasticity and quality in fabrics. Nylon was discovered by Wallace Hume Carothers in 1935 and first produced by DuPont in 1938. Rayon was the first manufactured fiber and is made from a natural polymer; its properties remained unchanged until high tenacity rayon was developed in the 1940s.