The modern "blue jeans" as we know them, with their characteristic rivets, were invented by Jacob Davis and Levi Strauss in 1873, who patented the process of reinforcing work pants with metal rivets. 

Here's a more detailed look at the history:

Jacob Davis, a Latvian-American tailor, was looking for a way to reinforce the seams on his work pants using metal rivets. 

He partnered with Levi Strauss, a German-American dry goods merchant, who supplied him with the denim fabric. 

On May 20, 1873, Davis and Strauss received U.S. Patent 139,121, for "Improvement in Fastening Pocket-Openings," which described the process of using rivets to strengthen pants. 

The riveted pants, originally called "waist overalls,": were an instant hit with workers. 

The term "jeans" itself is believed to have originated from the French name for the Italian city of Genoa, where a strong cotton fabric was made. 

The fabric used for jeans, denim, is a twill-weave cotton fabric, originally made in Nîmes, France, and known as "serge de Nîmes". 

The term "dungarees" is an English colloquialism for jeans, and other types of pants, most common in the first half of the 20th century. 

By the 1970s, denim jeans were such an integral part of youth culture: that automobile manufactures began offering denim-like interior finishes.