Zzzip! Zip! Zip! Imagine having to button your coat everyday. You would have to get up extra early just to button it. Now, would you really want spiders crawling in your ear just because it took you forever to button your shoes or coat? Now aren't you glad zippers were invented?

Zippers were invented by an American engineer by the name of Whitcomb Judson way back in 1893. Whoa! Can you believe they were invented way back then? His idea came because he wanted things to be easier. Everyday people did have to button their coats and dresses. So he invented what he called his "clasp locker and un-locker" which today is the "zipper". It was a collection of metal clasps with a metal slider.

Of course this thing was brilliant because if it were not for him, we'd have spiders in our ears. Gross! Thanks to Whitcomb Judson, we don't. But at first, his brilliance failed him. The zipper would often come undone, or it wouldn't pull up because it was stuck. Mr. Judson worked at it, making it better and inventing machines to make them. But even that sometimes goofed up and not many people bought it.

Whitcomb Judson did not want his idea to collapse. Another engineer, Gideon Sundback, made some improvements to make it work. In 1908 he joined Mr. Judson's company. He then made a few more changes and in 1913 he had a cup-shaped link that was easier. It then sold thousands!