Dr. Spencer Silver discovers a unique, repositionable adhesive while working as a Senior Scientist in 3M's Corporate Research Lab.

Silver shops his adhesive around to other 3M scientists, trying to discover a problem that the adhesive can solve.

While singing in his church choir, Art Fry, another 3M scientist, tires of losing his place in the hymnal. He dreams of a bookmark that's lightly adhesive. Then he remembers Silver's adhesive, and his dream begins to become real.

Fry overcomes manufacturing obstacles to produce enough Post-it® Notes to supply 3M's corporate headquarters, and 3M employees are soon hooked.

After test markets show mixed reactions to Post-it® Notes, marketers realize that the secret to success depends upon sampling the product. Marketers travel to Boise, Idaho, to launch the famous sampling effort known as the Boise Blitz. After saturating the office supply industry with samples, an astonishing 90 percent of consumers who try the product say they'll buy it. The product is given the green light by management.

Post-it® Notes are introduced in 11 Western states with heavy sampling. The test is such a success, that consumers start shipping the notes to their co-workers in cities where the product is not yet available.

Post-it® Notes are introduced nationally in the United States. Lee Iacoca and other Fortune 500 CEOs write to say how much they love the product.

Post-it® Notes are introduced in Canada and Europe.

Post-it® Brand Mark 1991

Post-it® Notes celebrate their 10th anniversary and are featured on many lists of top consumer products of the decade.

Post-it® Brand Mark 2000

Today, there are more than 600 Post-it® Products. The now famous "not-so-sticky" adhesive is also used on several other 3M products.