The History of 3M | From Humble Beginnings to Fortune 500
From Humble Beginnings to Fortune 500. When 3M began in 1902, our five founders had a simple goal: to mine for corundum, a mineral ideal for making sandpaper and grinding wheels. Turns out, what they thought was corundum was really another low-grade mineral called anorthosite. Discovering the poor-quality mineral could have caused an early end ...