If you look closely at the zipper on your pants right now, odds are that it has 3 letters engraved on the tab: "YKK." Those aren't the initials of the inventor of the zipper — his name was Whitcomb L.

Whitcomb Judson was raised in Chicago, fought with the Union Army in the Civil War and was wounded in battle. He produced inventions post-war, none more famous or useful than the zipper, which he ...