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Fry then suggested to Nicholson and Silver that they were using the adhesive backwards.  Instead of sticking the adhesive to the bulletin board, they should “put it on a piece of paper and then we can stick it to anything.”

This initially proved easier said than done, in terms of practical application.  It was easy enough to get the adhesive on the paper, but the early prototypes had the problem that the adhesive would often detach from the paper and stay on the object the paper was stuck to, or, at least, leave some of the adhesive behind in this way.  There was no such problem with the bulletin boards Silver had made because he had specifically made them so that the adhesive would bond better with the board than the paper. Two other 3M employees now entered the scene, Roger Merrill and Henry Courtney.  The two were tasked with coming up with a coating that could be put on the paper to make the adhesive stay bonded to it and not be left behind on whatever the paper was stuck to when it was removed, a task at which they were ultimately successful at achieving. Interestingly, because management at 3M still didn’t think the product would be commercially successful, they more or less shelved it for three years, even though the Post-It notes were extremely popular internally at 3M labs during that span.    Finally, in 1977, 3M began running test sale runs of the Post-It note, then called “Press ‘n Peel”, in a certain areas in four different cities to see if people would buy and use the product.  It turned out, no one much did, which confirmed in the minds of the executives that it wasn’t a good commercial product.

This time, the re-order rate went from almost nothing, in the previous attempt, to 90% of the people and businesses that had received the free samples.  For reference, this was double the best initial rate 3M had ever seen for any other product they’d introduced.  Two years later, the Post-It note was released throughout the United States.

So after 5 years of constant rejection for the adhesive and another seven years in development and initial rejection, Post-It notes were finally a hit and have since become a mainstay in offices the world over, today being one of the top five best selling office supply products in the world.

Another obstacle in the initial launch of Post-It notes was that, because it was a completely new type of product, it required the construction of new machinery to mass produce the Post-It note pads, which was initially prohibitively expensive for a product seen by many within 3M as destined for commercial failure.

Post-It notes received an upgrade in 2003 when 3M launched a new version of the Post-It note with super sticky glue that has better adhesion to vertical surfaces.

 Post-It notes are occasionally used in art-work.  One such famous example was in 2008 when Shay Hovell used 12,000 Post-It notes to create a replica of the Mona Lisa.  The most expensive Post-It note art piece was done by R.B. Kitaj and sold for £640 (about $1000) in 2000.

The idea for sticky notes originated by accident. Dr. Spencer Silver, a Senior Scientist in the 3M Corporation’s Research Lab, discovered a repositionable adhesive in 1968. It hadn’t been his goal to do so, because at the time 3M’s philosophy was "the stickier the better.

After several sample tests across the country, Post-It® Notes were launched nationwide in 1980. Nearly 30 years later, the line has expanded from the original square, canary-yellow sticky notes to 61 other colors and 25 different shapes; they now generate more than one billion dollars of revenue every year! The vast success of sticky notes is no fluke.

One thing is a definite: you have thousands of exciting options to choose from!

When it became clear that Post-It Notes were viable in a commercial atmosphere, 3M's marketing went to work.

u get Post-it notes in eight standard sizes, 25 shapes and 62 colours to be precise, which make even artists use them to create colourful fancy designs. There is a Post-it software available for your computer as well, in which you can write your reminders on a Post-it note which will remain on your desktop. Although people may complain that Post-its are too expensive and cause wastage of paper, they will always be popular because of their high utility.

manufactured. 

No one knew what to do with the stuff, but Silver didn't discard it. 

Then one Sunday four years later, another 3M scientist named Arthur Fry was singing in the 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.  Success!  With the weak adhesive, the markers stayed in place, yet lifted off without damaging the pages.  3M began distributing Post-it ® Notes nationwide in 1980 -- ten years after Silver developed the super weak adhesive.  Today they are one of the most popular office products available.

The Yellow Stickee Diary of a Mad Secretary", by Rosa Maria Arenas, is the mini graphic journal of an office worker/artist, exhibited July 7 - August 25, 2013, at the Michigan Institute of Contemporary Art (MICA) Gallery in Lansing, Michigan. The 41 drawings displayed are a tiny percentage of the more than 2000 original drawings that constitute the Yellow Stickee Diary Project which Arenas created while working temp jobs from 1994 to 2005. Printed with archival inks on archival paper, the reproductions include "stickee sized" (3" x 5") framed prints and enlargements of the original drawings (which were all done on post-it notes).

Rebecca Murtaugh, a California artist who uses Post-it notes in her artwork, in 2001 created an installation by covering her whole bedroom with $1000 worth of the notes, using the ordinary yellow for objects she saw as having less value and neon colors for more important objects, such as the bed.[10]

One such work, by the artist R. B. Kitaj, sold for £640 in an auction, making it the most valuable Post-it note on record.[14]

Analogues of Post-it notes have also been used in technology in the form of desktop notes which are computer applications developed to allow users to put virtual notes on their computer desktop. These computerized versions of Post-it notes include 3M's own "Post-it Brand Software Notes", "Stickies" in Mac OS, "Sticky Notes" in Windows,[15] or other non-free applications like ShixxNOTE.[16] Additionally, some web applications have developed Post-it sort notes for online use.

Dr. Coover was happy to admit that his invention

occurred by accident.

I think it's a better system than using your brain. Your brain can fail you. A Post-it never will. The only time a Post-it will fail is late at night. I can only assume that since the trusty pad hails from Minnesota, it's a sensible product with an early-to-bed mentality. There's a Post-it pad next to my bed so I can record every brilliant thought that might come to me at 3 in the morning. Roll over, write it down, fall back to sleep. SURF! was scribbled on the pad the other morning. I don't have a clue what it means, but obviously it's important. A Post-it never lies.

Father: Harry Wesley CooverWife: Muriel Zumbach (m. 1941, d. 2005, two sons, one daughter)Son: Harry Wesley Coover IIIDaughter: Melinda Coover PaulSon: Stephen Coover

received

Bachelor of Science from Hobart College before earning his Master of Science and Ph. D. from Cornell University.

Eastman Kodak from 1944–1973

Vice President of the company from 1973-1984.

1942, while searching for materials to make clear plastic gun sights, Coover and his team at Eastman Kodak first worked with cyanoacrylates, rejecting them as too sticky.

Nine years later,

1958, the adhesive, marketed by Kodak as Super Glue, was introduced for sale.

overseeing Kodak chemists investigating heat-resistant polymers for jet canopies when cyanoacrylates were once again tested and proved too sticky.

cyanoacrylate is an acrylic resin which rapidly polymerises in the presence of water (specifically hydroxide ions), forming long, strong chains, joining the bonded surfaces together.

Cyanoacrylate is used as a forensic tool to capture latent fingerprints on non-porous surfaces like glass, plastic, etc.

Chemical structure of methyl cyanoacrylate, the basis of Superglue

Coover was also the first to recognize and patent cyanoacrylates as a tissue adhesive.

Vietnam War to temporarily patch the internal organs of injured soldiers until conventional surgery could be performed,

460 patents, and Super Glue was just one of his many discoveries

Implemented at Kodak, programmed innovation resulted in the introduction of 320 new products and sales growth from $1.8 billion to $2.5 billion.

Coover received the Southern Chemist Man of the Year Award for his outstanding accomplishments in individual innovation and creativity.

2004,

inducted into the National Inventor's Hall of Fame.

He also held the

He also held the

National Medal of Technology and Innovation.

Earle B. Barnes Award for Leadership

Chemical Research Management,

Maurice Holland Award

medalist for the Industrial Research Institute

natural causes

Kingsport, Tennessee

Delaware

A Post-it® Note weathered a flight from Las Vegas to Minneapolis on the nose of the plane. It endured speeds of 500 mph and temperatures as low as -56 degree Fahrenheit. It would take approximately 506,880,000 Post-it® Notes to circle the world once 1989 – A family left a Post-it® Note on their front door during Hurricane Hugo and it was their 3 days later 2000 – Llze Vitolina created a line of avant-garde evening wear made from Post-it® Notes. She made 11 dresses total, including a wedding gown, hats, and a bridal bouquet Today, the Post-it® Brand now has over 4,000 products.