Dimitri Burkhard
George de Mestral was a Swiss engineer and amateur mountaineer who invented Velcro in 1948. While hiking one day, he had noticed that burdock seeds kept sticking to his clothes and his dog's fur. Upon further investigation, he decided to develop a technology which was to rival the zipper in its ability to fasten.
De Mestral eventually used the same model which had worked in nature so well to develop the hook and loop fastener. Today's version consists of one strip of nylon with loops and another with hooks.
In 1955, De Mestral patented his technology and aptly called it "Velcro". The name is derived from the French words velours (velvet) and crochet (hook). As you probably know, the applications of Velcro have evolved way past the simple fastening of clothes.
Ok, so if these uber-cool facts make you want to wear sneakers with velcro really bad, please don't tell them that you've read it on Newly Swissed!
[…] Just think about it: Don’t the Swiss have a knack for inventing cool gadgets? Among others, they have churned out Swatch watches, the zipper or even velcro! […]
[…] Who knew that a long list of inventions, from the World Wide Web as we know it to the Red Cross and Velcro, were all invented in Switzerland? Or that Switzerland's universities have been churning out a […]