George de Mestral

George de Mestral was a Swiss electrical engineer with a lifelong habit of tinkering, having patented a toy airplane at age 12 long before his walk through the Alps.

After Velcro's slow decade-long climb to acceptance, he lived to see it adopted by NASA and the fashion industry alike, and held the patent until it expired in 1978, after which any manufacturer could legally use the term generically.

Connected entry: Velcro