It all started around 80 years ago, when William Dzus, an American engineer of Ukrainian descent, filed a patent for a turnlock fastener intended to be used to secure skin panels on aircraft and other high-performance vehicles.
In the late 1930s, the World was preparing for another war and development of fabrication techniques, especially in aircraft manufacture, was gathering pace. The 1936 patent would become the foundation of what has become an important fastener type.(…)
via The quarter turn fastener has proved a mainstay in panel fastening over the years.