Stryol was invented in Germany in 1839 by Eduard Simon, but was eventually renamed polystyrol then re-renamed polystyrene. The name styrofoam was trademarked by the Dow Chemical Company in 1946, and technically refers to the kind of Styrofoam™ is a building material made by Dow, which is different from the type of styrofoam that cups and containers are made of. However the term "styrofoam" is often used to describe the more common kind of styrofoam that is used in cups and containers. The word styrofoam as it is used colloquially can refer to any polystyrene material. In 1957 Warren Price and Alexander Houston patented a cup made out of foamed polystyrene, which was the beginning of the use of styrofoam in cups and other types of containers.
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