Hook-and-loop fastener Mestral's patent expired, prompting a flood of low-cost imitations from Taiwan, China and South Korea onto the market. Today, the trademark is the subject of more than 300 trademark registrations in over 159 countries. George de Mestral was inducted into the national inventors hall of fame for his invention. The big breakthrough George de Mestral made was to think about hook-and-eye closures on a greatly reduced scale. Hook-and-eye fasteners have been common for centuries, but what was new about hook-and-loop fasteners was the miniaturisation of the hooks and eyes. Shrinking the hooks led to the two other important differences. Firstly,
George de Godzinsky between 1961 and 1965, he conducted the Finnish entries for the Eurovision Song Contest. George de Godzinsky George de Godzinsky (5 July 1914, Saint Peterburg, Russia — 23 May 1994, Helsinki, Finland) was a Russian-Finnish composer and conductor. Godzinsky is known from his Schlager music although he composed music for movies and operettas. De Godzinsky's father had Polish, Czech, Georgian and Romanian ancestry, his mother was of Swiss and Dutch descent. George de Godzinsky's father was a Saint Petersburg-based civil servant and businessman who had strong ties to customers in Finland. During the Russian revolution the family escaped to Finland.