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Post-it Note

Materials Engineering

The Post-it Note is a small piece of paper carrying a re-adherable strip of glue on its back, made for temporarily attaching notes to documents and other surfaces. It grew out of an accident at 3M: in 1968 the chemist Spencer Silver was trying to develop an unusually strong adhesive and instead produced a low-tack, reusable pressure-sensitive one, with no clear use for five years. In 1974 his colleague Arthur Fry realized the adhesive could hold a bookmark in place in his hymn book, and developed the idea into a product under 3M's policy allowing employees to pursue their own projects. It reached stores in 1977 as Press 'n Peel, failed, was relaunched under the Post-it name in 1978 with a free-sample marketing campaign in Boise, Idaho, and went nationwide in 1980 and international in 1981. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

Facts
Year
1977 1
Connections

Associated With

Source Spencer Silver (National Inventors Hall of Fame)

In Field

Source Post-it Note (Wikipedia)

Invented By

Source Spencer Silver (National Inventors Hall of Fame)
Sources
1. Post-it Note (Wikipedia)
  • Lead section
    A Post-it note (or sticky note) is a small piece of paper with a re-adherable strip of glue on its back, made for temporarily attaching notes to documents and other surfaces.
  • Infobox: introduced
    1977
  • In Field: Materials Engineering, Introduction
    A low-tack pressure-sensitive adhesive allows the notes to be easily attached, removed, and even re-posted elsewhere without leaving residue.
  • In Group: Adhesives and Fastening Products, Lead paragraph
    is a small piece of paper with a re-adherable strip of glue on its back
View the Source
Spencer Silver (National Inventors Hall of Fame)
  • Associated With: Spencer Silver, Inductee page
    In 1968, Spencer Silver was a senior scientist working to develop new classes of adhesives at 3M when he discovered an acrylic adhesive with unique properties.
  • Invented By: Spencer Silver, Inductee page
    In 1968, Spencer Silver was a senior scientist working to develop new classes of adhesives at 3M when he discovered an acrylic adhesive with unique properties.
View the Source
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