In the early 1970s, DuPont's Kevlar ballistic fabric was invented. The fabric was originally intended to replace steel belting in tires, and it was extremely strong. Waterproofing and additional layers of fabric were added to the Kevlar to make the vests more durable and wearable.
There is no one date that marks the invention of the bulletproof vest. This is because the invention developed over time, with minor modifications occurring regularly.
One of the first bulletproof vests was the one developed by Filippo Negroli in 1538. Some other examples were developed during the English Civil War, as well as in medieval Japan. However, the first commercially successful bulletproof vest comes from a tailor in Dublin in the 1840s.
