Mistakes That Worked

40 Familiar Inventions and How They Came to Be

A man named Spencer Silver was working in the 3M research laboratories in 1970 trying to find a strong adhesive. Silver developed a new adhesive, but it was even weaker than what 3M already manufactured...four years later, another 3M scientist named Arthur Fry was singing in his church's choir. He used markers to keep his place in the hymnal, but they kept falling out of the book. Remembering Silver's adhesive, Fry used some to coat his markers...3M began distributing Post-It Notes nationwide in 1980 - ten years after Silver developed the superweak adhesive. Today they are one of the most popular office products available.

~Charlotte Foltz Jones, Illustrated by John O'brien