I was just reading that the humble paperclip was actually invented in 1899 by a Norwegian named Johan Vaaler, who tried to make a more efficient way to hold papers together, but the British had already patented a similar design in 1895, so he got stuck in a legal limbo. Funny how the everyday thing that keeps my notes from falling to the floor almost had a lawsuit written into its past. Makes me wonder what other tiny objects are secretly auditioning for the spotlight in history.