A Chicago inventor patented a fastener called a “clasp locker or unlocker for shoes” in 1893. Unfortunately the fastener often came undone unexpectedly. A Swedish engineer patented a new version in 1913. The B.F. Goodrich Company used the fastener in rubber boots and gave it a new name—the zipper.
Illustration by Dave Whamond
© 1996 National Geographic Society. All rights reserved.
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