DuPont touted its new fiber as being “as strong as steel, as fine as a spider’s web,” and first announced and demonstrated nylon and nylon stockings to the American public at the 1939 New York World’s Fair. To be exact, on October 27, 1938, Charles Stine, vice president of E. I. du Pont de Nemours, Inc., announced that nylon had been invented.

Nylon is entirely man-made (synthetic) fiber.

Pulling a heated rod from a beaker containing carbon-and alcohol-based molecules, they found the mixture stretched and, at room temperature, had a silky texture. This work culminated in the production of nylon marking the beginning of a new era in synthetic fibers.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nylon