Editing Bulletproof vest (section)

===Industrial era===
One of the first examples of commercially sold bulletproof armour was produced by a tailor in [[Dublin]] in the 1840s. ''[[The Cork Examiner]]'' reported on his line of business in December 1847.<ref name="Thelandlord1847">{{cite news |title=The Landlord's Protective Garment |date=December 6, 1847 |work=[[The Cork Examiner]]}}</ref>

[[File:Ned kelly armour library.JPG|thumb|upright|Australian [[bushranger]] and outlaw [[Ned Kelly]]'s [[Armour of the Kelly gang|bulletproof armour]], fashioned from [[plough#Parts|plough mouldboards]] in 1880]]
Another soft ballistic vest, [[Myeonje baegab]], was invented in [[Joseon|Joseon Korea]] in the 1860s shortly after the punitive 1866 [[French expedition to Korea]]. The [[Heungseon Daewongun|regent of Joseon]] ordered the development of bulletproof armour because of increasing threats from Western armies. Kim Gidu and Gang Yun found that cotton could protect against bullets if 10 layers of cotton fabric were used. The vests were used in battle during the [[United States expedition to Korea]], when the US Navy attacked [[Ganghwa Island]] in 1871. The US Navy captured one of the vests and took it to the US, where it was stored at the Smithsonian Museum until 2007. The vest has since been sent back to Korea and is currently on display to the public.

Simple ballistic armor was sometimes constructed by criminals. In 1880, a gang of Australian [[bushranger]]s led by [[Ned Kelly]] devised their own [[Armour of the Kelly gang|suits of bulletproof armour]]. The suits had a mass of around {{convert|44|kg}} and were fashioned from stolen [[plough#Parts|plough mouldboards]], most likely in a crude bush forge and possibly with the assistance of blacksmiths. With a cylindrical helmet and apron, the armour protected the wearer's head, torso, upper arms, and upper legs. In June 1880, the four outlaws wore the suits in a gunfight with the police, during which Kelly survived at least 18 bullets striking his armour.<ref>{{cite book|last=Cormick|first=Craig|author-link=Craig Cormick|year=2014|title=Ned Kelly: Under the Microscope|publisher=CSIRO Publishing|isbn=978-1-4863-0178-2}}</ref>

In the 1890s, American outlaw and [[gunfighter]] [[Jim Miller (outlaw)|Jim Miller]] was infamous for wearing a steel breastplate under his [[frock coat]] as a form of body armor.<ref>O'Neal, Bill (1979). ''Encyclopedia of Western Gunfighters''. University of Oklahoma Press. pp. 230–233. {{ISBN|0-8061-1508-4}}</ref> This plate saved Miller on two occasions, and it proved to be highly resistant to pistol bullets and shotguns. One example can be seen in his gun battle with a sheriff named George A. "Bud" Frazer, where the plate managed to deflect all bullets from the lawman's revolver.<ref>Metz, Leon Claire (2003). ''The Encyclopedia of Lawmen, Outlaws, and Gunfighters''. Checkmark Books. pp. 172–173. {{ISBN|0-8160-4543-7}}.</ref>

[[File:Bulletproof vest by Jan Szczepanik (1901)c.jpg|left|thumb|upright|Test of a 1901 vest designed by [[Jan Szczepanik]], in which a 7 mm revolver is fired at a person wearing the vest]]
In 1881, the [[Tombstone, Arizona]] physician [[George E. Goodfellow]] noticed that [[Charlie Storms]], who was shot twice by [[faro (banking game)|faro]] dealer [[Luke Short]], had one bullet stopped by a [[silk]] handkerchief in his breast pocket that prevented that bullet from penetrating.<ref name=drwin>{{cite book|last=Erwin|first=Richard E.|title=The Truth about Wyatt Earp|year=1993|publisher=O.K. Press|location=Carpinteria, CA|isbn=9780963393029|edition=2nd|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/truthaboutwyatte00rich}}</ref><ref name=prescott>{{cite news |first=Josh |last=Edwards |title=George Goodfellow's Medical Treatment of Stomach Wounds Became Legendary |newspaper=The Prescott Courier |date=May 2, 1980|pages=3–5 |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=886&dat=19800502&id=jH8vAAAAIBAJ&pg=4536,249915}}</ref> In 1887, he wrote an article titled "Impenetrability of Silk to Bullets" for the ''Southern California Practitioner'' documenting the first known instance of bulletproof fabric.<ref name=oldwest>{{cite web|title=Dr. George Goodfellow |url=http://societyoftheoldwest.ning.com/forum/topics/dr-george-goodfellow |access-date=8 March 2013 |url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141220090137/http://societyoftheoldwest.ning.com/forum/topics/dr-george-goodfellow |archive-date=20 December 2014 }}</ref> He experimented with silk vests resembling [[gambeson]]s that used 18 to 30 layers of silk to protect the wearers from penetration.<ref>{{cite web|last=Hollington|first=Kris|title=Staying Alive|url=http://www.assassinology.org/id20.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070503151128/http://www.assassinology.org/id20.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=3 May 2007|access-date=4 March 2013}}</ref>

[[Kazimierz Żegleń]] used Goodfellow's findings to develop a silk bulletproof vest at the end of the 19th century, which could stop the relatively slow rounds from [[gunpowder|black powder]] handguns.<ref name="Culture.Pl">{{cite web |last1=Oleksiak |first1=Wojciech |title=The Monk who Stopped Bullets with Silk: Inventing the Bulletproof Vest |url=https://culture.pl/en/article/the-monk-who-stopped-bullets-with-silk-inventing-the-bulletproof-vest |website=Culture.Pl |access-date=9 December 2018}}</ref> The vests cost US$800 each in 1914, {{Inflation|US|800|1914|fmt=eq|r=-3}}.<ref name="Culture.Pl"/>

A similar vest made by Polish inventor [[Jan Szczepanik]] in 1901 saved the life of [[Alfonso XIII of Spain]] when he was shot by an attacker. By 1900, US gangsters were wearing $800 silk vests to protect themselves.<ref>{{cite book|last=Hollington|first=Kris|title=Wolves, Jackals, and Foxes: The Assassins Who Changed History|year=2008|publisher=St. Martin's Press|isbn=9781429986809|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=I8LHU4f_hkQC&pg=PA108}}</ref>