History of Whiteboards

The whiteboard is a common sight in classrooms in this day and age, but have you ever stopped to think about how the dry erase board came to be? Let us guide you through the creation of the whiteboard.

Who Created the Whiteboard?

The whiteboard was invented in the mid-1950s but the original inventor is one of two possible individuals. Most believe that Martin Heit, a Korean War veteran, created the whiteboard in the 1950s by fixing a mistake. Heit, a photographer, found himself working with negatives daily. One day he found that a permanent marker had been marked on one of the negatives and Heit found himself surprised when the marker had wiped away from the film easily. This gave him the idea for what would now be known as the whiteboard. Martin Heit produced a whiteboard prototype made with laminates similar to those found on photographs and films,