Wilmington, Delaware is the headquarters of E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company, an American chemical production company that played a significant role in the Manhattan Project and the making of the atomic bomb.
The DuPont Company was founded in 1802 in Wilmington, Delaware by Éleuthère Irénée du Pont, a French gunpowder manufacturer. As it grew, DuPont formed a working relationship with the U.S. government, eventually becoming one of the military’s largest suppliers of gunpowder. Despite public outcry over its conduct in the First World War, DuPont became very involved in the military’s World War II efforts, more specifically in the Manhattan Project.