Superglue 1942/51
Superglue was invented by accident but unlike other accidental inventions, it’s inventor took years to see the potential in what he had accidentally created. Dr. Harry Coover was born in 1917 in Delaware. In 1942 he was working at Eastman Kodak and started examining cryanoacrylates. Dr. Harry Coover and his team were looking for something that could be used to make clear plastic gun sights. The formula that he created was far too sticky to be used to create gun sights and he therefore abandoned it.
In 1951 he was working on another project. This time the goal was to create a heat resistant acrylate polymer for jet canopies. Cryanoacrylates were tested for this project as well but this time Dr. Harry Coover took a closer look. The formula was perfect as a quick bonding adhesive. It worked on a wide range of materials and it needed very little water to activate. In fact, there was typically enough water on the surface of whatever objects were being bonded.
It took until 1958 for Eastman Kodak to get the product to market. When they did they sold it as Eastman #910 but it was eventually changed to the much catchier name of Super Glue. The product was licensed to Locite who named it “Locite Quick Set 404” but then created their own version called “Super Bonder.” By the 70s the product had caught on and a number of manufacturers were creating super glues. Three main companies for super glue emerged in the 1970s, Eastman Kodak, Locite and Permabond. The product is now found in many households and according to Dr. Harry Coover it even helped saved lives during the Vietnam War. He said that the glue was used to seal up large wounds to keep them closed until the soldier could get to the hospital.