Electrospinning is a relatively simple fibre-forming process and offers a unique method to produce nanofibers. The process exists at this moment 80 years and has seen a very turbulent history. There is a need to see what actually happened in this history. We have taken a brief look in the history of electrospinning. This paper is reporting on some of the aspects that electrospinning encountered. It is crucial to see that electrospinning has been used in different countries in different time periods. The history of electrospinning is mainly characterised by bad timing. The future of electrospinning looks however quit bright