For 10 points, name this metal which has been used since Zhou dynasty China in its "pig" form, which, with carbon, is turned via the Bessemer process into steel.
Staffordshire's John Wilkinson got a nickname for being "mad" about this product, whose production was made easier by James Beaumont Neilson. Henry Cort patented a puddling process to transform this material. Abraham Darby's family made a fortune producing this material. Stephenson's Rocket was often compared to a "horse" made of this material. With (*) plate-glass, this material was used to build the Crystal Palace. At the 1866 battle of Lissa, ramming destroyed an Italian ship built from this substance. It is refined using a material called coke in blast furnaces. For 10 points, name this metal which has been used since Zhou dynasty China in its "pig" form, which, with carbon, is turned via the Bessemer process into steel.
Staffordshire's John Wilkinson got a nickname for being "mad" about this product, whose production was made easier by James Beaumont Neilson.
{iron} [or cast iron; or wrought iron; or pig iron; do not accept \"steel\"]