The week Nazi tanks began their march through the Low Countries en route to Paris, hosiery counters across America were preparing for an invasion of a different sort. On May 15, 1940, on what would be termed N-Day or Nylon Day, millions of American women from coast to coast queued up in lines for an unveiling that even Apple could only dream of today. Why the frenzy? For the chance to buy a pair of $1.25 nylon stockings — the miracle synthetic fabric developed in a DuPont lab 80 years ago this month and the brainchild of an ex-Harvard chemist who never lived to see the riots, or the revenues, generated by his wondrous invention.
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