Who invented the S-plug/plastic dowel/wall anchor shown in the picture?

The late Artur Fischer had more than 1,000 patents to his name when he died putting him in league with Thomas Edison. Artur Fischer (1919 – 2016) was a German inventor whose most famous invention is the grey "S Plug" (Split-)Wallplug made from plastic materials which has been available in various shapes and sizes since 1958.

Born in Tumlingen, Germany, he was the son of the village tailor Georg Fischer. His mother Pauline, who ironed collars to make ends meet, recognized her son’s mechanical aptitude and encouraged him at every turn, helping him set up a workbench at home and buying him the German equivalent of an Erector Set. In the second world war, Fischer worked as an aircraft mechanic and survived the Battle of Stalingrad, leaving on the last plane. Later in the war he was captured in Italy and sent to a prisoner-of-war camp in England. After returning to his hometown in 1946, he found work as an assistant at an engineering company and began making lighters and loom switches out of military scrap. In 1948, he founded his own company, the Fischer Group.

In 1949, he invented synchronized flash light photography, which was later purchased by the camera company Agfa. Inspired by his inability to photograph his young daughter indoors, his insight was to synchronize an electronic flash with the camera shutter.

He holds 1100 patents and overtook Thomas Alva Edison, who held 1093 patents and is called the Edison of Germany.