Of The History of Sticky Things!

A Crazy Little Bird Told Me
Jul 12, 2025
5 min read

Here I was, sitting in a waiting room (as you do!), chatting with the person sitting next to me about the use of super glue to close wounds. A little bit random, will you say, rightfully so, but oh so very interesting. Among other things I don’t think I will ever travel again without a tube of super glue in my bag!

Before we can talk about glue though, we need to talk about adhesives. I guess we don’t technically need to, but you know I can’t resist a bit of history, it’s my own personal brand of catnip!

Now, let’s start at the beginning.

What is an adhesive?

It is any substance used to hold one or more materials together, excluding things like wielding or sewing for example and including the likes of glue, cement, mucilage, or paste.

Adhesives are usually categorised one of three ways: whether they are reactive or non-reactive (drying, pressure sensitive, anaerobic, multipart etc.), their starting physical phase or whether they are of natural or synthetic origin.

When did humans start using adhesive?

The earliest known use of adhesive-like substances date to 200,000 years ago, when Neanderthals bound stone tools to wooden handles; the first reference to adhesives in literature appeared around 2000 BC. Throughout history, adhesives were made using a variety of constituents, such as vegetal or mineral materials, animal and fish glues refined, or egg-based pastes to cite only a few.

The Greeks dabbled in adhesives (as expected!), using slaked lime as mortar while the Romans furthered mortar development by mixing lime with volcanic ash and sand. This material, known as pozzolanic cement, was used in the construction of the Roman Colosseum and Pantheon. Now, let’s face it, these people knew how to glue things that withheld the test of time!

Let’s not forget the Egyptians of course, with a casket made of wood and glue found in King Tutankhamun's tomb. They knew how to stick stuff together too!

Around AD 1000 in Central Asia, the Mongols used animal glue to bind their bows, the weapons that are considered one of the reasons behind the success of Genghis Khan’s army. Glue as a tool for world domination … who knew?!

In Europe, glue fell into disuse until the period AD 1500–1700 (Dark Ages and all!), when world-renowned cabinet and furniture makers began to use adhesives to hold their products together.

Some fun facts:

in 1690, the first commercial glue plant was established in The Netherlands;
the first British glue patent was granted in 1750 for fish glue;
the first U.S. postage stamps used starch-based adhesives when issued in 1847;
by the mid-1800s, first rubber-based glues were introduced;
the first U.S. patent was granted in 1876;
in 1930s modern chemist started heavy development of fully synthetic adhesives.

What about Cyanoacrylate?

I had to use the scientific term at least once, but really, we are just talking about superglue (yes, at long last back to the topic at hand!).

It all started with the war effort, and the discovery in 1942 by a group of scientists headed by Harry Coover Jr. of a product that stuck to everything it came in contact. Not very practical during wartime, as you can imagine, but in 1951 Coover and a colleague realised the commercial potential. They obtained their patent in 1954 and that adhesive was first sold in 1958 as "Eastman #910". And as they say, the rest is history!

What about medical superglue, how does that work?

Cyanoacrylate has been used for veterinary treatments for mending bone, hide, and tortoise shell by the early 1970s, and a cyanoacrylate spray was used in the Vietnam War to reduce bleeding in wounded soldiers until they could be taken to a hospital.

Since then, medical superglue has been subject to scrupulous tests before being authorised for use on human by the relevant regulatory authorities, with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) only approving its use as a medical adhesive in 1998.

Things would be too easy if all superglues were made equal, though! Medical superglue has a slightly different composition from the commercial equivalent, intending among other things to reduce irritation or chemical burns to the skin (good thing, right?). At the same time, it seems medical and veterinary versions are pretty similar, even though the latter has not been approved for use on humans.

Last important point, cyanoacrylate is not to be used with just any wounds!

It is recommended for minor wounds, no more than 5 centimetres, with straight edges (that latter part being critical), that have stopped bleeding and only after thoroughly cleaning the wound with soap and water to avoid infections; you also need to make sure that the edges of the cut are close enough that they can easily be pulled together. If you have lost a bit of skin, and there is just a hole there, glue is not for you, my friend!

How do you use superglue on wounds?

Well, remember that I am not medically trained, so I am simply transposing the information I found (links below!). In doubt, go check with a professional (and yes, I mean somebody with a medical degree, not somebody suffering from the Rabbit Hole Syndrome)!

Hold the edges of the cut together with gauze pads or clean fingers.
Squeeze the edges of the cut together.
Apply glue along the length of the cut's surface and 1 to 2 centimetres from each side.
Hold the edges of the cut together for about one minute until the glue dries.
Apply three to four layers of glue, allowing each layer to dry before applying the next.
Avoid picking at the glue or scab.
If you have a bandage available, place it over the cut for extra protection.
Leave the glue on your skin until it falls off on its own. This usually takes about 5 to 10 days.

Alright, now let’s summarise!

If you are in the middle of a zombie apocalypse and you got the choice between dying of an infection or closing your wounds with any superglue you found on the side of the road, well, glue away!

In all other circumstances, try to use the medical version or, for lack of it, the veterinary version. If it starts turning purple, glittery or glowing at night, then go see a medical professional (urgently!).

And last life altering thought, people have been trying to stick things together for a very very very long time!

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