Zipper is one of the greatest inventions of modern time. We all are using zipper in our every day life in clothing, luggage, tents etc. No proper alternative to zipper has yet been invented. A brief chronological history of zipper is given below for you.

1851 : Elias Howe patented "An Automatic, Continuous Clothing Closure" in USA. It was probably never manufactured.

1893 : Whitcom L. Judson patented a ?Clasp Locker? for fastening shoes and boots and tried to market through the Universal Fastener Company.

1913 : Gideon Sundback, a Swedish born Canadian immigrant designed the zipper as we see now, in St. Catherines, Ontario, Canada. He was the top designer of Universal Fastener Company. The patent was issued in 1917 as a ?Separable Fastener?.

1923 : B.F.Goodrich Company coined the name zipper. It eventually got stuck with the product as generic name.

1920s-1930s : Zipper slowly first become popular with children?s clothing and men?s trousers. In early 1930s zipper featured in women?s clothing.

2007 : Zipper was chosen as # 8 on the list of Greatest Canadian Inventions on Canadian television.

If you are interested to know more about zipper please read the book :
Robert Friedel : Zipper : An Exploration in Novelty (W.W.Norton Company: New York, 1996). It?s a wonderful book!!!!!