Humbuckers were invented by Seth Lover in 1955, who was working for Fender, trying to get rid of the hum in electic guitars.
Seth Lover invented the Humbucker. His original design is referred to as the "PAF" Humbucker, because the early ones were put into production on Gibson Les Paul guitars before the patent was granted, and they were all stamped "Patent Applied For". Seymour W. Duncan's collection now includes the late Mr. Lover's prototypes, and the machine used to wind the coils in the original plant in Kalamazoo Michigan.