The first synthetic dye was created by accident in 1856. The "creator" was an 18-year-old scientist named William Henry Perkin. Sometimes the best discoveries happen when "failure" occurs. His failure changed textiles forever. Interestingly, the color he created is similar to this year's Pantone Color of the Year 2018, Ultra Violet.

 

Click here to learn more.

From Wikipedia:

In 1856, William Henry Perkin, then age 18, was given a challenge by his professor, August Wilhelm von Hofmann, to synthesize quinine. In one attempt, Perkin oxidized aniline using potassium dichromate, whose toluidine impurities reacted with the aniline and yielded a black solid, suggesting a "failed" organic synthesis. Cleaning the flask with alcohol, Perkin noticed purple portions of the solution.

Suitable as a dye of silk and other textiles, it was patented by Perkin, who the next year opened a dyeworks mass-producing it at Greenford on the banks of the Grand Union Canal in Middlesex.^[10] It was originally called aniline purple. In 1859, it was named mauve in England via the French name for the mallow flower, and chemists later called it mauveine.^[11] By 1870, demand succumbed to newer synthetic colors in the synthetic dye industry launched by mauveine.