Even if you are actively involved in the adhesives industry you likely aren’t familiar with the comprehensive history of adhesives. We could bore you with the complete details of how one of the greatest inventions known to man came to be, but we thought we’d break it down into a quick list of five interesting and lesser-known facts about adhesives.

1. One-Part Adhesives Discovery – 200,000 years ago, give or take, stones and stone flakes discovered in Italy, which point to the earliest hint of adhesives use. While obviously primitive compared with today, these stones used a type of tar as their adhesive.
2. Two-Part Adhesives Discovery – South Africans first discovered two-part adhesives and was attributed to a 70,000 year old stone segment. This stone segment had an adhesive combination on it made of plant gum and red ochre.
3. Adhesives in Literature – Adhesives were referenced in literature from the period around 2000 BC. This was roughly around the period of the ancient Egyptians, who also included adhesive artifacts in the tombs of their deceased.
4. Modern Adhesives & Patents – The first commercial glue plant was founded all the way back in 1690 by the Dutch. It wasn’t until 1750 in Britain and 1876 in the US that the first patents were issued.
5. Today and Tomorrow’s Adhesives – We’ve shared several blogs and articles about adhesives in today’s sign industry,  adhesives that are stronger than welds, or even a Gecko-like adhesive that can support 700 pounds on a smooth wall. With more and more adhesives being used in car manufacturing, it’s exciting to see what advancements in adhesives technology will allow us to do in the future.

Do you have any interesting adhesives facts you’d like to share with us? Just leave us a comment on one of our social channels and we’d be happy to hear it! If you have any questions on adhesives, or even abrasives, sealants, silicones, or other related products be sure to let us know also. The adhesives innovators and experts at Chemical Concepts are always ready to help.