Ian's Condensed History

This page highlights a small selection of my life's more memorable milestones, from my birth in 1962 through to more recent events.

Timeline of Events

Dec-1962 Ian Fieggen, born Dec-1962

I came into this world on 13-Dec-1962, born in Wellington, New Zealand, the fourth of five children to Dinie and Chris Fieggen, both originally from the Netherlands.

Feb-1964 Australia, Feb-1964

At just one year old, I arrived in Australia with my family on 28-Feb-1964 when my father, Chris, was transferred here by ANZ bank as part of the team that set up the bank's first computer system.

Dec-1980 Mordialloc-Chelsea High School Logo, 1980

At the tender age of 18, I finished my high-school education, completing year 12 at Mordialloc Chelsea High School (now called “Mordialloc College”).

Jun-1982 Invented the “Ian Knot”, Jun-1982

While attempting to find a more symmetrical way of tying my shoelaces, I inadvertently developed a knot that proved to be much faster. This was the birth of the Ian Knot, the World's Fastest Shoelace Knot.

Sep-1983 Ian's first driver's licence, 1983

At the age of 20, I went for and passed my driver's licence, then bought my first car the same week. Freedom at last!

Mar-1985 Ian's Mentone flat, 1985

I found a great flat in Mentone, about 15 minutes closer to the city than my parents' home. It was really close to a supermarket, bank, post office, pizza place and laundromat – everything a bachelor could possibly need.

Mar-1985 Ian's car: PAID-4, 1985

Having crashed my first car while moving house, a week later I bought my Holden Statesman: 1978 HZ, 5 litre V8 engine; the last Aussie car with classic styling and grunt. The “PAID-4” number plates were fun while the car was relatively new.

Apr-1985 Ian as a private pilot, 1985

Scarcely a year and a half after getting my driver's licence, I was taking to the skies as a private pilot. This fulfilled a dream from my teenage years when I flew model airplanes.

Feb-1994 Ian and Inge, 1994

I met many really nice people during my years as a PC specialist, but when I met Inge we really “clicked”. What started out with: “If we're both single, why not be single together?” soon blossomed into a true romance.

Dec-1996 Ian moves to Chelsea, 1996

After almost 3 years of commuting between Mentone and Chelsea, I was finally able to move out of my flat and into the unit next door to Inge's after we hinted to the existing tenants that I was keen to take their place.

Apr-1999 Chelsea home extension, 1999

After a year of planning and an unbearable nine months of building, our extension was finally complete. Our home was at last big enough for Inge and me to both work from home and live together.

May-2000 Added Ian Knot to website, 2000

Added the instructions to my Ian Knot to my hobby website. This marked the beginning of what would eventually become Ian's Shoelace Site and my alter-ego as “Professor Shoelace”.

Oct-2007 Ian's book (pic)

Seven years after starting Ian's Shoelace Site, the book based on the website was published. “Laces” was available in book stores across U.S.A, Canada, U.K. and Australia (though it is now out of print).

Aug-2009 iOS app (icon)

Two years after publishing my hardcover book, “Laces”, my collection of shoe lacing methods and shoelace knots was republished in electronic form in “Ian's Laces App” for the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad.

Mar-2019 Android app (icon)

Ten years after the original iOS app was published, I finally ported the app to Android following the purchase of a new handset in 2019. “Ian's Laces” was at last available for both dominant mobile computing environments.