Cyanoacrylate Adhesive
Harry Coover, Eastman Kodak, USA, patent 2,768,109 of 1956. The glue that was too sticky to study twice.
Overview
Coover rejected cyanoacrylates in 1942 as ruined gun-sight plastics, then recognized their instant bonding in 1951 heat-resistant tests. Eastman 910 hit market by 1958. Medics sprayed it on Vietnam wounds; FDA tissue approval came decades later for sutures. The 1956 patent launched an adhesive family now bonding everything from electronics to eyelids. Coover finally received the National Medal of Technology in 2010, dying weeks later. A failure flipped to fortune by watching what stuck.
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