At the beginning of 2017, one of the biggest trends were fidget spinners. People were obsessed with them; the trend was so insane that schools had to start banning fidget spinners from school.

Even Triton got caught up in the craze last school year. You were almost guaranteed to find a kid with a fidget spinner in each classroom.

But now, about 8 months later, the fidget spinner trend has died down, and become significantly less popular. But where did the fidget spinner originate from? Who created it, and for what purpose?

Although it is not clear who exactly invented the fidget spinner, there are a few people who have been credited for the idea. The first to be credited was Catherine Hettinger, a chemical engineer, by The Guardian, The New York Times, and the New York Post. She was believed to be the inventor due to her filing a patent application for a “spinning toy” in 1993. Hettinger was granted a patent, but then later allowed it to lapse in 2005 because she couldn’t find a commercial partner. Later, in May 2017, it was announced in a Bloomberg News article that Hettinger didn’t invent the fidget spinner, which she agreed with.

On May 4, 2017, during an interview between NPR and Scott McCoskery, it was said by McCoskery that, in 2014, he invented a “metal spinning device” in order to handle his own fidgeting problems during IT meetings and conference calls. After this interview, McCoskery started to sell the Torqbar, which is what he invented, online.

Although devices that are similar to the fidget spinner were available as early as 1993, the fidget spinner hit its peak during April 2017, becoming a common toy among people with ADHD, autism, or anxiety, so that they could cope with their problems. Then, it became that almost every kid wanted a fidget spinner after seeing them used at school, which lead to schools being “infested” with them.

Even though the fidget spinner trend did not last long, it will always be remembered as one of 2017’s most popular products.