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.
Frank Whittle
An RAF engineer, Whittle argued in the late 1920s that aeroplanes should fly at higher altitudes to increase fuel economy and fly faster. Piston-driven engines and propellers weren't suited to high-altitude flight, so Whittle proposed something revolutionary - the jet engine.
Whittle explained his ideas to the Air Ministry in charge of the RAF but was rejected. He continued his work anyway, building the first working jet for bench testing in 1937.
By spinning a set of compressor blades at the front, air was forced at high pressure into a combustion chamber. Here it mixed with fuel and burned. The hot exhaust gases were then forced at even higher pressure out the back. This provided propulsion, driving the compressor at the front, drawing more air in.
Whittle's jet engine was more powerful than the piston-driven engines of the day and used fewer moving parts. Two years later, the first jet-powered aeroplane took to the skies, ushering in a new age in aviation.
Velcro