31 March - Saturday
International Backup Day (Backup Day)
1889 In Paris, the grand opening of the Eiffel Tower
1893 Whitcomb Judson invented a new buckle called a "zipper"
1902 The contract on the right to assemble in Russia cars of mark "Daimler" is concluded
1966 The first artificial moon satellite was launched in the USSR
It is believed that the first prototype of "lightning" was developed by the American Whitcomb Leo Judson. The background of the invention is as follows: Buddson's friend suffered from back pain, for which reason he struggled to lace up his shoes. "Create a device that can be buttoned with one hand," - the sufferer addressed to the author of 12 patents.
Soon Whitcomb introduced a buckle of two chains. On these chains, hooks and loops alternated. And the elements of this design were interlocked with the help of a "tongue-key". He patented it November 7, 1891 as a "buckle for shoes." And this invention was presented to the public on March 31, 1893. The new fastener was called "lightning".
The invention of Judson greatly accelerated the process of fastening the boots. But despite the dignity of the clasp, she has not been successful for a long time. People could not learn to use "lightning" in any way. The novelty was even accompanied by instructions on two pages! And besides, the production of fasteners was very expensive: often its price was twice the cost of a skirt or pair of trousers.
Only 20 years after its appearance, "lightning" gained popularity. The merit in this belongs to an engineer from Sweden, Gideon Sundbek. He made the clasp thinner, more flexible and reliable, increasing the number of hooks, and patented it. And in 1923, the president of a large shoe company, Bertrand Rock, chose a "zipper" for a new model of rubber galoshes. It was then that it became widespread.
And in the 1930s, "lightning" became a symbol of sexual activity. The new technology made it possible to remove clothes many times faster! However, for a woman of those years it was considered indecent to wear outfits with "snakes" - this emphasized their accessibility and frivolity.
Today more than half of the "lightning" on the planet is produced by YKK, founded in 1934 in Japan. Also the world centers for the manufacture of "zipper" are Bangladesh, India and China.
The biggest zipper was made in the Netherlands in 1989. The length of this "zipper" was 2851 meters.