Gideon Sundback

Otto Fredrik Gideon Sundbäck was born on April 24, 1880, in Ödestugu Parish, Småland. After qualifying in electrical engineering at the polytechnic school in Bingen am Rhein, Germany, he emigrated to the United States in 1905, working for Westinghouse Electric before joining the Fastener Manufacturing Company.

Sundback tackled the unreliable, clumsy clasp fasteners of earlier inventors. Between 1913 and 1914, he patented the revolutionary 'Hookless No. 2'—the direct prototype of the modern zipper—featuring two facing rows of metal teeth with cup-shaped indentations interlocked smoothly by a Y-shaped slider. He subsequently designed the precision automated 'S-L' stamping machine capable of manufacturing hundreds of yards of zipper tape daily, revolutionizing world fashion, luggage, and aerospace apparel. He was posthumously inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame.