Gypsum has been used as a building material through history. It has been used in one of the greatest achievements of mankind, the Pharaoh’s Pyramids, and is still visible even after 5,000 years showcasing the durability of gypsum as a building material. In the 18th Century, Antoine Laurent Lavoisier, a French chemist, began the study of gypsum by studying its chemical properties. Gypsum was found in great amounts near Paris, France, gaining popularity as a building material called “Plaster of Paris” or “French Plaster”. Gypsum was also used by French farmers to improve crop yields by using it as a soil additive. Late in the 19th Century, Augustine Sackett patented the “Sackett Board”, where it was created by adding thin layers of “Plaster of Paris” between wool felt papers. The Sackett Board was used as a replacement for wood. Gypsum plaster was mixed with fiber and was used as the exterior of the World’s Columbian Exposition palace in Chicago in 1893. By 1916, the product reached a ready-to-finish board to use in construction, reaching a very similar state to the modern plasterboard