With a decent tug, it detaches. And with a slight push into the right place, it attaches. Velcro is a such a simple, cheap, and widely used commodity that it is often overlooked. However, velcro is an important component of every day items. It is used in zippers and pockets of clothes and in many shoes. Other creative uses of velcro include organizing wires and pens together, hanging keys on velcro for easy access, hanging pictures, and so on.
The invention: Velcro was first made in the 1940s by George de Mestral. While hiking with his dog, he noticed annoying cockle-burrs attach to his dog and his pants. He later studied these under a microscope to try to understand how these plants were able to attach themselves to many different surfaces, and he discovered hundreds of simply designed microscopic hooks on the surface of these burrs. After years of experimentation, the velcro as we know today was invented.
The design of the velcro is simple, yet its use is limitless.
