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Origins: Post-It Note Adhesive
The Sticky Yellow Square听
In 1968 Spencer Silver (PhDA&S鈥66), a听senior chemist at 3M鈥檚 Central Research听Labs, developed a peculiar adhesive.听Made out of tiny bubbles, it was strong听enough to hold papers together but weak听enough that they could be pulled apart.听It could be reused several times before it听lost its stick. Unsure what to do with his听creation, Silver tried to interest his colleagues听at 3M in his invention.
鈥淚t was part of my job as a researcher听to develop new adhesives, and at that听time we wanted to develop bigger, stronger,听tougher adhesives,鈥 he told CNN.听鈥淭his was none of those.鈥
Five years passed before new 3M product听development researcher Arthur Fry听had an idea. Fry sang in a church choir,听and every time he opened his hymnal his听bookmark fell out. Tired of picking it up,听he realized Silver鈥檚 adhesive was just what听he needed to keep his bookmark in place.听Voil脿, the concept of the Post-it note was听born, and the product launched in 1980.听Two years after appearing on the market,听the iconic yellow notes had become a staple听for offices, schools and homes. Today,听more than 50 billion Post-it note products听are sold every year.听
As for Silver, his name appears on听more than 22 U.S. patents.
Photo by iStock.com/bluestocking听