Velcro
Swiss electrical engineer George de Mestral invented his first touch fastener when, in 1941, he went for a walk in the woods and wondered why Burdock seeds clung to his coat and dog. He discovered it could be turned into something useful. He patented it in 1955 and subsequently refined and developed its practical manufacture until its commercial introduction in the late 1950s.
Viscose
French scientist and industrialist Hilaire de Chardonnet (1838–1924)—who invented the first artificial textile fiber, "artificial silk"—created viscose. British scientists Charles Frederick Cross and Edward John Bevan took out British patent no. 8,700, "Improvements in Dissolving Cellulose and Allied Compounds" in May, 1892. In 1893 they formed the Viscose Syndicate to grant licences, and in 1896 formed the British Viscoid Co. Ltd. to exploit the process.