Monday 28 March 2011

He Stuck Up For Himself!

superglue inventor harry coover

Dr Harry Coover, the inventor of Super Glue, has just died. 

He discovered the sticky adhesive by accident during WW2, whilst working for Kodak.

He was trying to create a suitable plastic to make precision gunsights for soldiers in 1942, when he noticed his materials were all stuck together.

superglueIn 1951 the American christened the product "Super Glue" and launched a small company  - then the popularity of the glue soared and soon Dr Coover was being asked to test his product in public, including lifting cars with winches held together with Super Glue

Since then, the glue has been used for all sorts of weird and wonderful purposes.

Mending broken items, sticking skin during surgery, and lots more uses.

Urban myths abound about accidents and practical jokes – apparently in the ER departments in the USA, there is actually a situation named “"inadvertent self-administration of superglue"

Mr Coover himself stuck around a long time – he had recently celebrated his 94th birthday.

5 comments:

  1. Very interesting, I never knew that.

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  2. he has saved me on many occasions, mainly by saving me money on shoe repairs!

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  3. Isn't it odd that so many inventions were really happy accidents!
    Jane x

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  4. You are such a font of knowledge! How do you find these things?

    xofrances

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  5. Do you remember the amazing TV ad with cars and things suspended from ceilings??

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