The safety pin that paid off a $15 debt

A closer look

Desperation is the mother of brilliant mechanical engineering. In 1849, Walter Hunt owed a friend exactly fifteen dollars and had absolutely zero way to pay him back. He sat down with a simple piece of brass wire and, within three hours, engineered the modern coiled safety pin. He immediately patented it, sold the rights for four hundred dollars, paid off his tiny debt, and watched the buyer make absolute millions off his frantic panic.