ChronoFive
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Setting the scene
Fasteners for boots and tobacco pouches used clumsy hooks; Swedish-American engineer Gideon Sundback refined earlier designs into a reliable interlocking slide mechanism.
What happened
Sundback patented the separable fastener in 1913 while working for the Automatic Hook and Eye Company; B.F. Goodrich later marketed it as the "zipper" on rubber boots.
Why it still matters
Zippers replaced buttons on jackets, jeans, and luggage, becoming one of the twentieth century's most ubiquitous closures. Memorable detail: the name "zipper" came from the sound the slide made when Goodrich promoted galoshes.
Background
The name zipper followed B.F. Goodrich marketing.