Inventor: Arthur Fry

Date of Patent: 31st December 1974

Available to the public: 1980

More info:

The post-it note was born out of an accident. Originally a scientist called Spencer Silver was trying to make a new type of super glue. What he ended up with though was a weak glue that held things together, but was also easily pulled apart.

Years later Spencer Silver’s colleague Arthur Fry was getting annoyed with his bookmark falling out of his books. So he decided to coat it with Silver’s weak glue and the post-it was born.

You can listen to Sir Sidney McSprocket’s Everyday Items via:

• iTunes
• Free Fun Kids app
• RSS