Whitcomb L. Judson Whitcomb L. Judson Whitcomb L. Judson (March 7, 1846 – December 7, 1909) was an American machine salesman, mechanical engineer and inventor. Judson invented the zipper in the 1890s. Judson was born in Chicago, Illinois. According to the 1860 census, he lived in Illinois, and served in the Union army. He enlisted in 1861 at Oneida, Illinois in the Forty-Second Illinois Cavalry. Judson attended Knox College in his hometown Galesburg, Illinois. He was found in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1886. In 1886 and 1887 the Minneapolis city directory identifies Judson as a "traveling agent" — a traveling salesman working probably for
Thomas Judson Thomas Judson Thomas Haigh Judson ( (c)1857 – 4 September 1908) was an English-born international rugby union player who played club rugby for Llanelli and international rugby for Wales. Judson would later become a member of the first London Welsh team. Judson won his first international cap when, as a member of first class team Llanelli, he was selected to play in the inaugural Home Nations Championship against England. Under the captaincy of Charles Lewis, Judson was one of three Llanelli players in the Wales squad, the others being Alfred Cattell and Harry Bowen. Wales were competent, but unspectacular and