How were post-it notes invented by accident?

Small post-it notes are everywhere: for fear of forgetting the meeting time, post one! Suddenly have a whimsical idea, post one! Need to leave a message, post one! But you may not know that such a convenient post-it note was invented because of two accidents.

In 1966, Spencer F. Silver received his Ph.D. and joined 3M Company. The task of his research group is to develop a stronger adhesive. The properties of the binder depend on the structure of the molecule.

One day in 1968, Dr. Silver was doing an experiment. He put chemical reagents capable of polymerizing molecules into the reactants, but occasionally put more than usual. Suddenly, he discovered that the previously prepared particles did not dissolve as expected, but dispersed in the solvent. Dr. Silver found it very novel and made further attempts. In the end, instead of producing a stronger adhesive, he produced a weaker adhesive. This adhesive has a high viscosity, but it is very easy to peel off. After peeling, it can be used repeatedly.

Initially, the management of 3M was not interested in this new adhesive because it was not stronger than the existing adhesives. Even Dr. Silver himself did not know how to market it.

However, he insisted that his invention is useful and that it must be a solution to some problem. The question is what is the problem? In the next few years, Dr. Silver spared no effort to introduce his adhesive to his colleagues around him, so much so that his colleagues jokingly called him "Mr. Perseverance."

There was also a Dr. Arthur Fry working at 3M. He heard about this from another colleague and went to listen to Dr. Silver's report and learned about the properties of this adhesive.

Dr. Fry likes to sing and is a member of the local church choir. Every Wednesday night, he will go to practice choir. In the process of practicing, he often uses some pieces of paper to make bookmarks. However, the pieces of paper kept falling, making him always unable to find his lyrics. In order to solve this problem, Dr. Fry thought, could it be possible to stick the bookmark on the lyrics book without damaging the pages when it was torn off? By chance, he thought of Dr. Silver's invention.

The next day, he asked Dr. Silver for a sample, made a sticky bookmark, and tried it during the next practice. He found that this kind of bookmark is very useful, but there will be a little residue when it is torn off. In order to keep all the adhesive on the bookmark, Dr. Fry made some improvements. Later, he sent this new bookmark to his colleagues for trial, but the effect was not very good.

Once, when Dr. Fry was writing the report, he thought of a question, so he tore a little bookmark and wrote it, and then pasted it on the cover of the report. His boss wrote the answer on the bookmark, then posted it on the report and returned it to him. Suddenly, Dr. Fry thought of a new use for sticky bookmarks-sticky notes.

Later, Fry's research team made some samples and sent them to 3M colleagues for trial. The response this time was very good. After a difficult initial marketization, small post-it notes became a necessity in the office within a few years and were sold all over the world.