Frank J. Zamboni (1901-1988) was an inventor and mechanic who invented the Zamboni Ice Resurfacing Machine in 1949. His machine is used in ice rinks to resurface marred ice. In 1939, Zamboni and his brother Lawrence built a 20,000-square-foot enclosed ice skating rink in Paramount, California, USA. Resurfacing the ice was a major problem, and took many men and assorted equipment. In 1942, Zamboni transformed a tractor to scrape and smooth the ice in a single pass. After years, he perfected his it, releasing his “Model A Zamboni Ice Resurfacer” in 1949, (patent #2,642,679). The Olympic medal-winner Sonja Henie was one of his first customers.
Whitcomb L. Judson was an American engineer from Chicago, Illinois, who invented the zipper. Judson patented his “clasp-locker’‘ on Aug. 29, 1893; later in 1893, he exhibited this new invention at the Chicago World’s Fair. He and Lewis Walker founded the Universal Fastener Company to manufacture these fasteners. They never succeeded in selling Judson’s new device. Judson died in 1909, before his device became commonly used and well known.
The zipper was improved in 1913 by the Swedish-American engineer, Gideon Sundbach (a former employee of Judson). Sundbach was successful at selling his invention, which he called the “Hookless 2.” He sold these fasteners to the US Army, who put zippers on soldiers’ clothing and gear during World War I.
The word zipper was coined by B.F. Goodrich in 1923, whose company sold rubber galoshes equipped with zippers. Goodrich is said to have named them zippers because he liked the zipping sound they made when opened and closed.