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Gideon Sundback

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Inventor

The Resume

    (April 24, 1880-June 21, 1954)
    Born in Odestugu Parish, Sweden
    Electrical engineer
    Improved Whitcomb Judson's hookless fastener to create the modern zipper
    Granted US Patent 1,219,881 (1917)
    Inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame (2006)

Why he might be annoying:

    His appointment as head designer of the Universal Fastener Company may have had something to do with his marriage to the daughter of the plant manager.
    He called his invention the 'Separable Fastener'; it was not until 1923 that the B.F. Goodrich company would coin the catchier term 'zipper.'
    There was initially little demand for the zipper, partly due to people's experience with older, less secure fasteners.
    His invention was denounced by preachers as 'the Devil's fingers' for making it easier to remove clothing.

Why he might not be annoying:

    He threw himself into improving the zipper as a way of dealing with his broken heart after his wife died.
    He replaced the hooks and eyes of Judson's zipper with interlocking teeth for improved security and added more teeth per inch for greater flexibility.
    Unlike Judson, he lived long enough to see the zipper become not merely successful, but ubiquitous.
    Google celebrated his birthday by adding an interactive zipper to their logo. ('The company's most enticing doodle yet' according to the Washington Post.)

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 3 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 121 Votes: 51.24% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 7 Votes: 71.43% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 5 Votes: 60.0% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 187 Votes: 50.27% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 7 Votes: 71.43% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 327 Votes: 80.73% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 289 Votes: 58.48% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 144 Votes: 62.50% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 19 Votes: 47.37% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 20 Votes: 55.00% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 475 Votes: 51.37% Annoying