This primitive invention is on every boat in the world, yet has remained unchanged for the past 2000 years.
The first anchors, some dating back to the Bronze Age (over 5k years ago), are believed to have been large rocks and stone plates tied to ropes.
It is unknown who invented the modern form we now know, called the fluke anchor, dating back to the 1st century AD. The fluke anchor’s largest innovation was two teeth used to catch hold of objects at the bottom of the ocean.
On February 22nd, 1887, John Tiebout of Brooklyn, New York patented an innovation in fluke anchors. He invented an anchor with a folding mechanism enabling it to conveniently store in a boat. Since then, numerous patents have built off Mr. Tiebout’s initial design.
