May 20, 1873.<br />Strauss shared the patent for the "Improvement in Fastening Pocket-Openings” with Jacob Davis, a tailor.<br />Hailing from San Francisco, Strauss was well-known as a wholesale dry goods businessman.<br />He had recently started importing fabric and clothing to meet the demand of gold miners and other settlers during the California gold rush.<br />The "work pants" were an invention of Davis, who used metal rivets at stress points to make them stronger.<br />Davis needed Strauss to fund the paperwork for the patent.<br />Originally known as "waist overalls," the new jeans quickly took off in the U.S. <br />By the 1920s, they were the top-selling work pants.
