Did you know? Post-it® Notes were invented by accident, actually two accidents.
The first was by Dr.Spencer Silver. in 1968, Silver, a 3M scientist, was trying to create super strong adhesives for use in the aerospace industry. Instead of a super strong adhesive though, he accidentally managed to create an adhesive that stuck lightly to surfaces but didn't bond tightly to them.
But it never found a practical application, until in 1974 he was approached by 3M colleague, Art Fry and enter the second accident.
Fry, another 3M scientist, was frustrated. Every Wednesday night while practicing with his church choir, he would use little scraps of paper to mark the hymns they were going to sing in the upcoming service. By Sunday, he’d find that they’d all fallen out of the hymnal.
He needed a bookmark that would stick to the paper without damaging the pages. Partnering with Silver, they began developing a product.
Once they found themselves writing messages on their new notes to communicate around the office, they realised the full potential of the idea.
After years of research and perfecting the product, on April 6, 1980 the "Post-it® Note" was launched in the USA. Today, more than 50 billion of 3M's Post-it® notes are sold every year worldwide.