How Was Velcro Invented?
In 1941, during a walk in the Alps, a Swiss engineer named George Mestral wondered why burdock seeds clung to his clothing and to his dog’s fur. Fourteen years later he succeeded in producing a material equivalent of the structure of these seeds and founded a company to produce it. He named it a portmanteau of two French words: velour (velvet) and crochet (hook).
And Further on the Subject
Text contributed by Norman Sissman