On one particular hiking trip in 1941, Swiss engineer Georges de Mestral found burrs clinging to his pants and also to his dog's fur. On closer inspection, he found that the burr's hooks would cling to anything loop-shaped. If he could only artificially re-create the loops, he might be on to something.
The result: Velcro. A combination of the words "velvet" and "crochet," the material had trouble gaining traction in the fashion industry. But one of its most notable clients in the 1960s was NASA. The agency used the material in flight suits and to help secure items in zero gravity. After that, it became a space-age fashion all its own, allowing kids everywhere to put off learning how to tie shoelaces.