The stapler does not have a single clear “lonely genius” inventor; it emerged from several overlapping inventions in the mid‑1800s, with George W. McGill and Henry R. Heyl most often credited for creating the first practical office staplers.

Quick Scoop

Who “invented” the stapler depends on what you mean by stapler: the staple itself, the first stapling press, or the first true one‑step stapling machine.

  • In 1866, George W. McGill patented a small bendable brass fastener, the direct ancestor of the modern staple.
  • In 1867, McGill patented a press to push these fasteners into paper, an early stapling device shown at the 1876 Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia.
  • In 1868, C. H. Gould received an English patent often described as one of the first true staplers, while Albert Kletzker patented a similar device in the United States.
  • In 1877, Henry R. Heyl patented a machine that could both insert and clinch a staple in one step, which is why many regard him as the inventor of the modern stapler mechanism.
  • In 1879, McGill received U.S. Patent 212,316 for a “Device for Inserting Metallic‑Staples in Paper,” a heavy but commercially successful desk stapler used in offices.

So, who gets the credit?

If you’re answering a trivia‑style question like “who invented the stapler?” , the most defensible short answers are:

  • “George W. McGill, who created the first widely used office stapler in the 1870s.”
  • Or, if you focus on the full one‑step stapling action: “Henry R. Heyl, who patented the first machine to both insert and clinch staples in a single operation in 1877.”

Behind those names is a whole cast of inventors refining the idea over several decades rather than one person suddenly creating the stapler in its modern form.

Bottom note: Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.