Post-it®Brand

Every Wednesday evening, as he practiced with the church choir, Dr. Spencer Silver used little sheets of paper to mark the hymns that the choir would sing during the next day’s mass. Yet, the bits of paper always used to fall out of the book. He realized that he needed a bookmark that would remain attached to the pages without damaging them. 

In 1968, Dr. Silver, who was a scientist at 3M, developed a new kind of adhesive. Despite not being the strong and lasting adhesive he planned to design, this one easily stuck to and could easily be removed from surfaces. Dr. Silver sensed the potential of his microsphere technology, but it was only when Art Fry acknowledged the invention that the two understood the real value of the discovery. Art needed a reusable bookmark and, by applying the microspheres to a sheet of paper, the first-ever Post-it® note was born. Today, Post-it® notes have become an integral part of our daily lives.