Rubber Heels
Rubber heels for shoes were not invented by a cobbler or a shoemaker, but by a printer. Humphrey O'Sullivan, an Irish immigrant to US, was a trained printer, with a job in a press. His work required him to stand on the hard cold floor for hours. As a result, every evening he would go back home with aching feet.
To protect his feet, O'Sullivan started bringing a small mat of rubber to work. Standing on it was more comfortable. In fact, his ingenious solution became so popular that often he would find himself without the mat - his fellow workers started borrowing his mat. When this inconvenience became a regular affair, O'Sullivan found another way of overcoming it. He made small rubber pads and nailed them to the heels of his shoes. This ensured that nobody could spoil his comfort.
Sensing a market for it, O'Sullivan obtained a patent for his invention in 1889, and started his own company to manufacture rubber heels.
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