On July 14, 1868, U.S. Patent No. 79965 issued to Alvin J. Fellows on a Tape Measure:

The first spring-loaded tape measure was invented nearly fifty years earlier in England, but it was too expensive to be a practical workman’s tool. In 1864, just four years before Fellows secured his patent, another Connecticut man William Bangs Jr. became the first American to obtain a patent for a spring-loaded tape measure:

Fellows improved Bangs’ design in two significant ways: First, Fellows adding a locking mechanism to hold the tape in place until released. Second, Fellows enclosed the entire tape measure in a compact metal case.