In the period 1856–1865, four developments led to the foundation of fundamental research, resulting in hundreds of synthetic dyes. The start of the synthetic dye industry can be dated very precisely. From a historical point of view, the violet dye Mauveine is interesting, since it was the first artificial aniline or coal tar dye discovered. In 1856, the British student William Henry Perkin worked as an assistant to August Wilhelm Hofmann at the Royal College of Chemistry in London. Actually, Perkin had the task of finding a way to synthesise quinine. He tried to synthesise an artificial drug for the treatment of malaria, and instead discovered the first synthetic violet dye Mauveine. By the end of the 1850s, purple was a favourite colour for clothing in fashion, but the enthusiasm was only temporary and ebbed away after a few years. This was enough time for Perkin to get very wealthy, however: by the age of 21, he was already a millionaire and in 1873, at the age of 36, he sold his company and retired to devote himself exclusively to research in organic chemistry.