The earliest rivets were small wooden or bone studs, and the earliest known metal deformations may be the ancestors of the rivets we know today. Undoubtedly, they are the oldest known method of metal joining, dating back to the earliest use of malleable metals. For example, during the Bronze Age, Egyptians used rivets to fasten six wooden fan-shaped parts together on the outer edge of a slotted wheel, and the Greeks, after successfully casting large bronze statues, used rivets to join the components together.
In 1916, when H.V. White of the British aircraft manufacturing company first obtained a patent for blind rivets that could be riveted from one side, few anticipated their widespread application. From aerospace to office machinery, electronic products, and sports equipment, blind rivets have become an effective and robust method of mechanical joining. While the exact invention date of hollow rivets is unclear, they were invented for equipment, specifically for horse harnesses, around the 9th or 10th century AD. Riveted harnesses, like nailed hooves, freed slaves from heavy labor. Rivets also led to many important inventions, such as iron pliers for copper and iron workers and sheep shears.