Super Glue inventor dies

KINGSPORT, Tenn., March 28 (UPI) -- Harry Wesley Coover Jr., the inventor of Super Glue, died at his home in Kingsport, Tenn., his daughter, Dr. Melinda Coover Paul, said. He was 94.

Paul said her father died Saturday of congestive heart failure, The New York Times reported.

Coover discovered the adhesive by accident when he was experimenting with acrylates to use in clear plastic gun sights during World War II. He abandoned the idea because the gun sights stuck to everything they touched.

But in 1951 another researcher used the material in another experiment and discovered he could not separate two lenses he stuck together with the substance. Seven years later Eastman 910 came to market.

It later became known as Super Glue. Coover was never able to capitalize on his discovery because his patent had expired by the time Super Glue became popular.

"I think he got a kick out of being Mr. Super Glue," Paul said. "Who doesn't love Super Glue?"

Coover was born in Newark, Del., March 6, 1917. He earned a master's degree and a doctorate from Cornell University. He worked at the Eastman Kodak Co. until retirement and was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2004.

President Obama awarded him the National Medal of Technology and Innovation last year.

In addition to his daughter, Coover is survived by two sons, Harry III and Stephen, and four grandchildren. His wife of more than 60 years, Muriel Zumbach Coover, died in 2005.