Who really invented the zipper? The world's foremost zipper expert weighs in.
If you haven't already, go to Google. Today's "Doodle" is a full-screen interactive zipper honoring Gideon Sundback, the guy whose 1914 patent for a "Hookless No. 2" fastener gave birth to the modern zipper. But, as with any important new tech, there wasn't just one guy, or one breakthrough. The zipper, at the point, had been in development for decades. The LA Times even went with this blaring headline:
Source: @latimesmost
So wait, did Google really credit the wrong guy here? Let's check with HISTORY.
The first person who has an claim to the invention of the zipper was probably Elias Howe, whose 1851 patent described "new and useful improvements in fastening for garments." Howe's zipper is a series of cleats bound together by string, which expand to zip and retract to unzip. It doesn't work quite like a zipper, but it sure looks like one:
