Did you know? The staple has origins dating back to the 18th century, when toolmakers in the court of Louis XV of France first designed them. The first machine to insert and clinch a staple with a single operation was patented by Henry R. Heyl of Philadelphia on September 25, 1877. On February 18, 1879, George W. McGill of New York was awarded a patent for what would become the first commercially successful stapler - The McGill's Patent Single Stroke Staple Press.