Velcro was invented after a walk in the Alps left a dog covered in burrs.
In 1941, Swiss engineer George de Mestral came home from hunting and examined the burdock burrs stuck to his trousers and his dog under a microscope. He saw hundreds of tiny hooks catching on loops of fabric.
Why is this true?
It took him about ten years to work out how to reproduce the hooks in nylon. The name combines the French words velours and crochet, velvet and hook, and NASA's use of it in space made it famous.
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More about inventions
Most inventions arrive by accident, in the wrong order, or decades before anyone finds a use for them. Microwaves, sticky notes, safety glass and vulcanised rubber all started as mistakes or side effects. The facts here trace how the thing actually came about, note who noticed the accident and why it mattered, and point at a source so you can follow the full story if it hooks you.