A thumbtack is a short nail or pin with a large, slightly rounded head made of metal which is used to fasten documents to a background for public display and which can easily be removed by hand. In the UK thumbtacks are usually called drawing-pins.
As far as is currently known, the thumbtack was invented by Johann Kirsten in the year 1903 in the town of Lychen in Uckermark, Germany. Other sources ascribe the invention of the thumbtack to Austrian factory owner Heinrich Sachs in the first quarter of the 20th century.
A thumbtack can be made to spin on its tip like a spinning top by holding the pin (with head facing up) between thumb and forefinger and rapidly spinning and releasing it in one fluid motion.