Asked by sara
when were fidget spinners invented
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GPT-5 mini
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There’s no single clear inventor. The idea of a small hand-held spinning toy goes back decades, but two milestones are usually cited:
- 1993: Catherine Hettinger is often credited because she filed a patent application in the early 1990s for a spinning toy; that application later lapsed (reports say it expired around 2005). Her design was not the same as the modern ball‑bearing spinners.
- 2010s → 2017: The modern fidget spinner—small plastic/metal toy built around a central ball bearing—appeared in the 2010s and exploded into a global craze in 2017 when inexpensive versions from many manufacturers flooded the market.
So: concept older, Hettinger’s filing in the early 1990s is often mentioned, but the familiar ball‑bearing fidget spinner became popular and ubiquitous in 2016–2017.
- 1993: Catherine Hettinger is often credited because she filed a patent application in the early 1990s for a spinning toy; that application later lapsed (reports say it expired around 2005). Her design was not the same as the modern ball‑bearing spinners.
- 2010s → 2017: The modern fidget spinner—small plastic/metal toy built around a central ball bearing—appeared in the 2010s and exploded into a global craze in 2017 when inexpensive versions from many manufacturers flooded the market.
So: concept older, Hettinger’s filing in the early 1990s is often mentioned, but the familiar ball‑bearing fidget spinner became popular and ubiquitous in 2016–2017.
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