mirrors and glass affordable for the masses. In response, the company extended its product line to include lower-quality glass and mirrors. In 1830, just as Louis-Philippe became King of the newly restored French Monarchy, Saint-Gobain was transformed into a Public Limited Company and became independent from the state for the first time. While mirrors remained their primary business, Saint-Gobain began to diversify their product line to include glass panes for skylights, roofs and room dividers, thick mirrors, semi-thick glass for windows, laminated mirrors and glass and finally embossed mirrors and windowpanes. Some of the more famous buildings that Saint-Gobain contributed to during that period were the Crystal Palace in London, Jardin des Plantes, the Grand Palais and adjacent Petit Palais in Paris, and Milan Central railway station. Saint-Gobain merged with another French glass and mirror manufacturer, Saint-Quirin, in the mid-19th century. After the merger, the company was able to gain control of 25% of European glass and mirror production (before, it had only controlled 10–15%). In response to growing international competition, the company began to open up new manufacturing facilities in countries without any domestic manufacturers. Saint-Gobain cast the glass blanks of some of the largest optical reflecting telescopes of the early 20th century, including the ground-breaking Hale telescope (online in 1908), the 61-inch (1.54 m) Bosque Alegre telescope built in 1912, for the Argentine National Observatory, directed by Charles D. Perrine, and 100 inch (2.5 m) Hooker telescope (online 1917) at Mount Wilson Observatory (USA), and the Plaskett telescope (online in 1918) at Dominion Astrophysical Observatory (Canada). 1910–1950: Post Industrial Revolution Saint-Gobain experienced significant success in the early 20th century. In 1918, the company expanded its manufacturing to bottles, jars, tableware and domestic glassware. In 1920, Saint-Gobain extended its businesses to fibreglass manufacture. Fibreglass was being used to create insulation, industrial textiles and building reinforcements. In 1937, the company founded Isover, a subsidiary fibreglass insulation manufacturer. During this period, the company developed three new glassmaking techniques and processes; first, a dipping technique used to coat car windows, which prevented the glass from shattering in the event of an accident. As a result of that technique, 10% of Saint-Gobain's 1920 sales came from the car industry, and 28% in 1930. Second, a few years later, another technique was developed that allowed glass to be shaped and bent. Finally, a process was developed to coat glass with aluminium, allowing it to