Swiss Army Knife

The Swiss Army knife is a multi-tool pocketknife that has been made for the Swiss Army since 1890, with versions sold to consumers particularly since 1945. A typical model carries a drop-point main blade along with a screwdriver, bottle opener, can opener, and awl, while commercial versions add tools such as scissors, a corkscrew, a saw, tweezers, and a toothpick folding into the handle. The Swiss military sought a new folding pocketknife in the late 1880s to help soldiers open canned food and maintain their rifles, and the resulting knife received the official designation Modell 1890 in January 1891; because no Swiss manufacturer could meet the order, the first 15,000 knives were made by the German firm Wester and Co. of Solingen. Karl Elsener, owner of a Swiss surgical instrument business later known as Victorinox, began producing a domestic competitor in 1891 and patented an improved design with tools on both sides of the handle in 1897, which was marketed internationally as the Swiss officer's and sports knife. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/