20 May 1875: Jacob Davis & Levi Strauss granted a patent for riveted jeans

On this day in 1875 Nevada tailor Jacob Davis was granted a patent for riveted jeans, along with his business partner and financial backer, Levi Strauss.

Think of a brand of denim jeans, and most people would probably think of Levi’s. But Levi Strauss didn't know one end of a sewing machine from another.

What Strauss was, however, was a very shrewd and successful businessman. He started out as a shopkeeper who made a fortune from the gold rush – not from gold, but from selling essential supplies to prospectors (AKA "picks and shovels", theme we're still quite keen on here at MoneyWeek when it comes to mining).

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Ben Judge

Ben studied modern languages at London University's Queen Mary College. After dabbling unhappily in local government finance for a while, he went to work for The Scotsman newspaper in Edinburgh. The launch of the paper's website, scotsman.com, in the early years of the dotcom craze, saw Ben move online to manage the Business and Motors channels before becoming deputy editor with responsibility for all aspects of online production for The Scotsman, Scotland on Sunday and the Edinburgh Evening News websites, along with the papers' Edinburgh Festivals website.

Ben joined MoneyWeek as website editor in 2008, just as the Great Financial Crisis was brewing. He has written extensively for the website and magazine, with a particular emphasis on alternative finance and fintech, including blockchain and bitcoin. 

As an early adopter of bitcoin, Ben bought when the price was under $200, but went on to spend it all on foolish fripperies.