Like Velco? Thank your dog!

Velcro was invented because a scientist took a walk with his dog. George de Mestral of Switzerland was removing burrs from both his pants and his dog's fur after they came back from a walk. According to Real Simple magazine, de Mestral was intrigued by how the burrs could stick, and put them under the microscope. In the 1940s, he ended up inventing Velcro, based on the words "velour" and "crochet," as something similar to the burr's stiff hooks that could stick to something and soft loops similar to his pants and his dog's fur on which hooks could stick.

Needless to say, one of the best uses of Velcro is to quickly attach dog jackets made of warm fleece on a squirming, happy dog who is about to go for a walk. -- Phyllis DeGioia, editor, VeterinaryPartner.com