In 1963, Indiana native Ermal Fraze got a patent on the pop-top aluminum can, thereby making a huge impact on the beer and soft drink industries.
At a 1959 picnic, Fraze had wanted a beer but could find no "church key" opener. Inspiration struck. The former tool and die worker by that time owned his own company, Reliable Tool and Manufacturing.
He sold rights to the removable pop-top can to Alcoa as soon as the patent was approved. Iron City Beer of Pittsburgh was the first company to use the innovation, which from there found rapid acceptance. A non-removable opener was introduced by Continental Can more than a decade later.
The handsome, cheerful looking Fraze died in 1989 at age 76.
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