John Wesley Hyatt, Jr. of Albany, New York applied for U.S. patent 50,359 on October 10, 1865. His patent for the first
synthetic billiard ball created a product that replaced the need for ivory for the production of billiard balls.
Witnessed by Thomas Simons and Andrew Alexander, the patent statement carefully describes Hyatt's new product
which is illustrated with accompanying figures. While Hyatt's invention did not signal the end of the killing
of elephants in order for individuals to obtain their ivory, it did eliminate one commonly used excuse for this purpose.
Copies of the original patent #50359 are available at http://patentmuseum.com/ebayhtmls/billiard.html