Spencer Silver, a scientist at 3M, was inspired to find a use for a low-tack, pressure-sensitive adhesive that he had developed by accident in 1968. Although Silver promoted his invention through seminars and talks over the years, it wasn’t until 1974 that Art Fry, a colleague at 3M, conceived of a viable application. Fry found the inspiration when trying to solve the problem of loose paper bookmarks falling out of his church hymnbook. Using 3M’s official policy of sanctioned bootlegging, Fry developed his idea and the company test marketed it in 1977 and 1978 with uneven commercial success. Debuting in 1980 under the name Post-It Notes, the product would eventually achieve tremendous success, inspiring imitators and even becoming virtualized as “stickies” on personal computers.