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DISCOVERIES THAT WERE MADE BY CHANCE

Added on: 31st Aug 2015

 

FIREWORKS

accidental inventions

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

accidental inventions

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

accidental inventions

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

accidental inventions

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

accidental inventions

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

accidental inventions

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

accidental inventions

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

accidental inventions

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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