Arthur Fry 1980

Arthur Fry was frustrated. Fry, a chemist for 3M, was a member of his church choir. He loved to sing, but he was annoyed each time he stood up to sing, only to find that the little pieces of paper he used as bookmarks would always fall out. He then had to frantically try to find the right page in his hymn book. One day during a long sermon, Fry's mind began to wander... then he had a flash of insight. Fry realized that he could make a bookmark that would stick to products and could be removed without causing any damage. Dr. Spence Silver, another 3M employee, had created a new type of glue that wasn't very sticky, and would never dry. When glued papers were pulled apart, all the glue stuck either to one paper or the other. At first, Silver couldn't think of a way to use his new glue. That was until Arthur Fry came up with his "bookmark" idea. It wasn't until later in the 3M offices that people started to use the "sticky bookmarks" as self-attaching notes. When 3M first tried to sell Post-it notes, they weren't too successful. Eventually, through word-of-mouth, their popularity caught on. Today, Post-it notes are found in offices, homes, and schools around the world.