Wikipedia:POTD column/December 3, 2006

An animation showing how a zipper slider works. The slider, which is operated by hand, moves along the rows of teeth. Inside the slider is a Y-shaped channel that meshes together, or separates, the opposing rows of teeth, depending on its direction of travel. The zipper, originally called a "hookless fastener", was invented in 1913 by Gideon Sundback. "Zipper" was originally a trademark of the B.F. Goodrich Company for the line of rubber overshoes that it made using the fastener, but the term became associated with the fastener and acquired generic status.

Animation credit: Dominique Toussaint
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