The Origin of Blue Jeans

Most of us know that blue jeans were invented when Levi Strauss put rivets on work pants to make them more durable for miners during the California Gold Rush. But there's a lot more to the history of our everyday uniform than that. Where did that sturdy fabric originate? Where did we get the terms used to refer to them? And why are they blue? The components that go into blue jeans originated from all over the world, as you can see in this excerpt from a fascinating PBS documentary. You can watch the hour-long American Experience episode called Riveted: The History of Jeans at PBS. (via Kottke)