Technological and industrial history of 20th-century Canada engineer, George de Mestral, velcro, a two sided fastening technology based on hooks and loops, was introduced to a number of countries, including Canada, in the late 1950s. In Montreal, Velek Ltd. acquired the exclusive marketing rights for velcro in North and South America and Japan. The format for sound recordings changed in the years just following the war. In the US, Columbia Records introduced the long playing (LP) 33 format in 1948. Columbia made an agreement with Sparton Records, of London, Ontario, established in 1930, for the manufacture and distribution of its LP records in Canada. Not to be
Rail fastening system mainline railways of that period used heavy and expensive cast iron chairs to secure T-shaped rails; instead, Stevens added a supporting base to the T rail which could be fixed with a simple spike. In 1982, the spike was still the most common rail fastening in North America. Common sizes are from square and long. A rail spike is roughly chisel-shaped and with a flat edged point; the spike is driven with the edge perpendicular to the grain, which gives greater resistance to loosening. The main function is to keep the rail in gauge. When attaching tie plates the attachment