DISCOVERIES THAT WERE MADE BY CHANCE
Added on: 31st Aug 2015
FIREWORKS
Invented 2,000 years ago in China, legend has it that a cook accidentally
mixed charcoal, sulphur, and saltpetre, all items commonly found in a
kitchen back then. The mixture burned and when compressed in
a bamboo tube, it exploded.
PLAY-DOH
Play-Doh was accidentally invented in 1955 by Joseph and Noah
McVicker while trying to make a wallpaper cleaner. It was marketed a
year later by toy manufacturer Rainbow Crafts.
SUPER GLUE
In 1942 Dr. Harry Coover found that a substance he created,
cyanoacrylate, was a failure. It stuck to everything it
touched just a little too well.
X-RAYS
Yes, we know X-Rays are not an “invention” but their discovery was
still a pretty cool accident. In 1895 German physicist Wilhelm Roentgen
was performing an experiment with Cathode ray tubes when he noticed
a piece of fluorescent cardboard lighting up from across the room in
spite of the fact that a thick screen was between the cathode ray
emitter and the cardboard. Light was apparently passing through a
solid object.
CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES
According to legend the owner of Toll House Inn, Mrs. Wakefield,
was making chocolate cookies but ran out of regular baker’s
chocolate so she substituted broken pieces of semi-sweet
chocolate thinking they would mix into the batter. She was wrong.
POPSICLES
In 1905 11 year old Frank Epperson left a mixture of powdered soda and
water on the porch with a stir stick in the cup. That night
temperatures dropped below zero and he discovered his treat the
next morning. As any humble 11 year old would do he named it after
himself – the epsicle. Nearly two decades later he went public with
his snack and changed the name to Popsicle.
STAINLESS STEEL
Although steel has been forged for millennia, because it is mostly
iron, it rusts. For centuries metallurgists had attempted to add other
substances to steel to prevent the inevitable with only modest success.
In 1912, however, Harry Brearly was trying to create a gun barrel that
would resist erosion. After several months he realized that one of his
failures retained its lustre. It contained 12 percent chromium and that
was just enough.
PLASTIC
Chances are you are currently within arms-reach of something plastic,
especially if you are reading this. In 1907 Belgian chemist
Leo Baekeland set out to find a replacement for shellac. Although his
combination of formaldehyde and phenol failed to catch on he noticed
that by controlling the temperature and combining the mixture with wood
flour, asbestos, or slate dust, he could create a compound that was
mouldable, robust, non-conductive, and heat-resistant. He called his
invention Bakelite and today it has without a doubt completely
transformed our world.
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