Paper clips and Coq au Vin

Wikipedia tells us that the first patent for a bent-wire paper clip was awarded to Samuel Fay in the US in 1867. 

The paper clip we know today, and which I blipped, is called the Gem paper clip. It dates from the 1870s in Britain and was never patented. 

In 1899 a patent was granted to William Middlebrook of Connecticut for a machine for making paper clips. The supporting documents clearly show a paper clip of the Gem type we know today.

National Paper Clip Day is on May 29 each year!  It is also National Coq au Vin Day. I'm not joking. What could be more serious than a celebration of Coq au Vin and how delightful that it happens on the very same day that we celebrate the paper clip. Read more.