The most mundane things that you use every day (think post it notes, rubber bands, concrete) often have fascinating stories behind them.
In fact, people often only notice how something's designed when it goes wrong. But the process of discovery, testing and prototyping anything, no matter how ordinary, is full of pitfalls and the occasional exhilarating breakthrough.
Velcro 1951. George De Mestral
Walking in the woods one day in 1945, Swiss engineer George de Mestral noticed that Burdock seeds were sticking to his clothes. Wondering why this might be happening, he looked at the seeds under a microscope and discovered that they were covered in hundreds of tiny hooks. These hooks were latching onto loops in the thread of his jacket.
De Mestral made the short mental leap to realise that he could make an industrial fastening based on the same principle. Velcro was the result, an idea he submitted for patent in 1951. It was granted four years later. The name came from the French "velours", meaning velvet, and "crochet", meaning hook.
Velcro is used today in a wide range of places, from clothing to car manufacture, where it's used to hold interior roof linings and even some car panels in place.
Concrete