3M, originally the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company, is an American multinational conglomerate headquartered near Saint Paul, Minnesota, operating across industry, worker safety and consumer goods. It produces tens of thousands of products, including adhesives, abrasives and personal protective equipment, and is best known for consumer brands such as Scotch Tape, Scotchgard and Post-it notes.
Facts
Company TypeIndustrial and consumer goods conglomerate 2 Founded Year HeadquartersMaplewood, Minnesota, U.S. 2 Company Type
Company Type (category) FAQs
How did 3M begin and why did it move into sandpaper?
3M began in 1902 as a failed corundum mining venture and turned to sandpaper.
Five entrepreneurs formed the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company in 1902 in Two Harbors, Minnesota: a lawyer, a doctor, two railroad executives and a butcher. They meant to mine the rare mineral corundum and sell it as an abrasive, but their mineral holdings turned out to be low-grade anorthosite, a nearly useless igneous rock, and the venture nearly bankrupted the company. The owners went on to build a sandpaper factory in Duluth, and in 1905 the St. Paul businessman Lucius Pond Ordway began investing and stabilized the firm's finances.
Connections
Associated With
Post-it Notes were invented at 3M in 1968 (Spencer Silver's adhesive, Art Fry's application) and remain one of 3M's best-known consumer products.
Operates In
Source 3M (Wikipedia)
In the Other Atlases
Located In
Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is located.
Sources
1. Wikidata: 3M
- Wikidata Q159433, class allow-list match (w-wdresolver-0926)
- Wikidata Q159433 P31=Q891723 (public) (w-bbfill-business4-0926 knownqid fetch)
View the Source2. 3M (Wikipedia)
WikipediaInfobox: founded
June 13, 1902 in Two Harbors, Minnesota, U.S.
Operates In: Conglomerate Industry, Infobox: industry
Conglomerate
View the Source Reader Challenges (0)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.
Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.