In 1974, Art Fry, a 3M chemical engineer, was attending Sunday morning chur in his hometown Fry was in the habit of marking his favorite church hymns b putting pieces of paper between the pages like a bookmark. But these tiny pieces. of scrap paper would fall out of the hymnal. Then Fry came across the research of another 3M scientist, Dr. Spencer Silver. Silver had started experimenting in 1968 with an adhesive for general industrial purposes. The adhesive could stick to surfaces like glue, but did not leave any leftover residue. It was like packing tape but easily removable. But the company could not find an appropriate application 20 for it. When Fry approached Silver, a chemist, he told him about the hymnal Using Silver's adhesive, he realized how useful the "sticky bookmark" could be. But there were problems with the adhesive.