One Sunday in 1974, Art Fry, a 3M engineer and choir singer, grew frustrated when the bookmarks kept falling out of his hymn book. That minor inconvenience sparked a major innovation.
Fry recalled a low-tack adhesive developed by his colleague, Dr. Spencer Silver, years earlier. Silver’s adhesive could stick to surfaces without leaving residue, but it had been shelved for lack of practical use. Fry saw its potential. Despite initial skepticism, Fry utilized 3M’s policy allowing employees to develop personal projects during work time. He coated paper with the adhesive and created repositionable notes that could stick gently and be removed cleanly, without damaging the surface.
After test marketing in 1977 as “Press ‘n Peel” with limited success, the product was renamed “Post-it Notes.” A major marketing campaign launched them nationwide in 1980, quickly making them an office essential. What started as a solution to mark pages in a hymn book soon became a global office staple.
The invention was not the result of a grand plan, but of noticing a small problem (marking hymn book pages) and linking it to an overlooked idea.
