In The News

Super glue inventor Harry Coover passes away

Super glue inventor Harry Coover passes away

Harry Coover, who was credited with inventing Super Glue, has died. He was 94.

Dr Coover was a chemist who spent his working life with the Eastman Kodak company.

He had developed what was to become super glue by accident while trying to develop a new plastic gun-sight during World War II. One of his test substances proved to be very sticky, but he was forced to set it aside at the time.

In 1951 researcher Fred Joyner, who was working with Dr. Coover, used some of his original compound during an experiment. It proved so sticky that a piece of expensive research equipment was ruined.

However, the pair spotted the potential for the glue which Eastman Kodak marketed as Eastman 910.

The Eastman Kodak company apparently never fully exploited the commercial value of glue. They sold off the rights to another company in 1980, and by the time Super Glue became a top-selling product the original patents had expired.

But Dr. Coover was always immensely proud of his invention.

He was inducted into the National Inventors’ Hall of Fame in 2004, and in 2010 President Obama awarded him the National Medal of Technology and Innovation.

 

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