Skip to main content

Serendipity : A brief history of Post-It

By
That yellow piece of paper that sticks anywhere easily and comes off clean, or post-it notes as we know it, ever wondered whose idea was this masterpiece of simplicity? What if I tell you that this super handy stationery, used in almost every office and which sometimes cater to the creative heads of some artists as well, was developed by accident?

Sticky note


Yes, you read it right, the ‘post it’ notes were first created in a lab of US science company 3M(then called Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company). In 1968, a scientist at 3M, Dr. Spencer Silver, was attempting to develop a super-strong adhesive. Instead, he accidentally created a "low-tack", reusable, pressure-sensitive adhesive. However, it took the brains of another scientist Arthur Fry to find the right use of this "Super Weak" adhesive.

So next time you are cracking your head against the wall while solving a real hard problem and your solution does not look perfect, just never rule out the possibility of your solution being the perfect solution for another problem in this big big world.
Nerd Note 1 : Until 1990s, that's when company's patent expired, Post-It type notes were produced exclusively in 3M's plant 
Nerd Note 2 : Of late, ‘Post-it’ art found new interest among artists and is used for creating fun images for decor purposes as well. Below is one such piece:

 Post-it Art
x
Labels:
Location: Bengaluru, Karnataka, India

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Vaccines: Deciphering the magical potion

By
"I wonder why scientists are not able to create a vaccine for a virus which can be killed by a 10 rupees soap!", read one of the memes over the pandemic. The message made me laugh and feel sad at the same time. The last few months have been tragic, fearful, and chaotic…to say the least. The world has been in the grip of a virus, with lock-downs enforced in numerous countries. The cases are heading north with no respite in the near future. Vaccine has been a topic of discussion in recent times. Though theories on vaccines being in different stages of development are doing rounds, it is highly unlikely that one will be available for general use by the end of 2020. Though, I sincerely wish it does. But do you know how vaccines work? How do they create a protective shield around our body? And how did the name 'vaccine' come into existence? Continue reading. How was the name 'Vaccine' coined? Let us commence by reading about the word itself. 'Vaccine...
13 comments
Read more

GO! GO! GO! H2O... Climb up the tree. 🌊 🍀

By
One of the daily chores assigned to me by wife is 'watering the plants'. Quite fond of plants, I have happily taken up the task and do it religiously, every morning. My mom too has a penchant for gardening. We even had a 'kitchen garden' at our home in Agra, boasting of vegetables such as Cauliflower, Spinach, Radish, Beans, Tomato. I along with my younger brothers, Kushagra & Mayank, were given the onus of watering our organically produced veggies & at times, scare away the monkeys from destroying or rather savouring our prized cultivation. Prized it was, as to every guest who came to our house, it was sort of mandatory to showcase them our vegetable garden. The green chutni made from home grown coriander really had a distinct flavour and aroma, much to our delight and guests envy 😋. Good old days. I'm getting nostalgic! Cutting back to the present day, on a pleasant and cool morning in Bangalore, I was watering the two beans climbers, which are clos...
30 comments
Read more

Rain Rain, fall again - The Cloud Seeding poem

By
"Bengaluru witnesses the driest April since 1983". "Dubai floods in April 2024 take the lives of 4 people." I came across these headlines a few weeks back. Though contrasting and bewildering these sound, the anomalies, sadly, are the truth of the times. However, with rain finally coming in Bengaluru this month, the city again witnessed water deluge in several areas. It reminded me of the 2022 floods in the Indian Silicon valley. But yes, it brought much respite from the hot weather. Ironically, people prayed for rain to keep at bay during the much anticipated and climactic CSK v/s RCB match on 18th May. And the GODS didn’t disappoint the devout at all. The epic clash will be remembered for time to come, for the reasons known to one and all. The very next day, it rained cats and dogs; washing out our society cricket tournament (thankfully, we have a reserve day ahead!!). Never ever since my childhood, I had ever wished rain to stop, and with that fervour last Sunday....
4 comments
Read more