Harry Brearley, who was born in Sheffield, England, in 1871, probably invented stainless steel. His father was a steel melter and through private study and night school he became an expert in the analysis of steel and its production. In 1908 Brearley was given the opportunity to set up the Brown Firth Laboratories, which was financed by the two leading Sheffield steel companies of the day. In 1912 Brearley was asked to help solve the problems being encountered by a small arms manufacturer, whereby the internal diameter of rifle barrels was eroding away too quickly because of the action of heating and discharge gases. Brearley was therefore looking for a steel with better resistance to erosion, not corrosion. As a line of investigation he decided to experiment with steels containing chromium, as these were known to have a higher melting point than ordinary steels.
Using first the crucible process, and then more successfully an electric furnace, a number of different melts of 6 to 15% chromium with varying carbon contents were made. The first true stainless steel was melted on the 13th August 1913. It contained 0.24% carbon and 12.8% chromium. At this time Brearley was still trying to find a more wear-resistant steel, and in order to examine the grain structure of the steel he needed to etch (attack with acid) samples before examining them under the microscope. The etching re-agents he used were based on nitric acid, and he found that this new steel strongly resisted chemical attack. He then exposed samples to vinegar and other food acids such as lemon juice and found the same result. At the time, table cutlery was silver or nickel plated. Cutting knives were made of carbon steel, which had to thoroughly washed and dried after use, and even then rust stains would have to be rubbed off using carborundum stones. Brearley immediately saw how this new steel could revolutionise the cutlery industry but he had great difficulty convincing his more conservative employers. On his own initiative, he than had knives made at a local cutler's, R.F. Mosley. To begin with, Brearley referred to his invention as "rustless steel". It was Ernest Stuart, the cutlery manager of Mosley's who first referred to the new knives as "stainless" after, in experiments, he had failed to stain them with vinegar. "Corrosion resisting" steel would be really the better term, as ordinary stainless steels do suffer corrosion in the long term in hostile environments.