"Consider the humble paper clip. A thin piece of steel wire bent into a double-oval shape. And yet over the past century, it remains the standard method of holding loose sheets of paper together. The first paper clip was invented in 1867 by Samuel Fay. The patent was issued on April 23, 1867 and was actually for a Ticket Fastener. The modern paper clip was patented on April 27, 1899 to William D. Middlebrook of Waterbury, Connecticut, and for more than 100 years has been fastening loose paper with few modifications"