Bad Dog Needs Rotten Home

THE NEW HOME FOR THE BEST STUFF ON THE WEB.

ACCIDENTAL INVENTIONS

Added on: 30th Dec 2015

 

 

COCA-COLA

Coca-Cola_beverage_truck

One of the most well-known accidental inventions, Coca-Cola was

created by pharmacist John Pemberton. Aiming to create a cure

for headaches and anxiety, Pemberton created a syrup from wine and

coca extract (the root ingredient in cocaine). When his home of

Atlanta banned the sale of alcohol in 1885, he removed the wine from

the syrup recipe and included carbonated water, thus creating the

beginning of the soda so many of us enjoy today.

 

 

LSD

lsd_trip_rip_hoffmann

LSD – or lysergic acid diethylamide – is a psychedelic drug

popular with counter-culture and youth movements of the 1960’s.

Accidentally created by Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann, acid (as LSD is

colloquially known) was first created in 1938 as an attempt at a

circulatory stimulant. Five years later – after nothing of interest was

discovered pharmacologically in ’38 – Hofmann made another batch

of LSD-25 on a hunch, simply because he “liked the chemical structure

of the substance”. While recrystallizing a few hundredths of a gram to

analyse, Hofmann accidentally ingested some, leading to the

first acid trip in history.

 

 

CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

Chocolate_Chip_Cookies

Chocolate chip cookies seem as old as mothers themselves

but they’re a relatively recent invention. The Toll House Inn was

founded as a bed-and-breakfast in Whitman, Massachusetts. Co-owner

and cook Ruth Graves Wakefield was making her popular butter

drop dough cookies one day in 1936 when she ran out of baker’s

chocolate. Grabbing some sweetened chocolate she had on hand,

Wakefield diced it up and added it to the cookies. To her surprise,

it didn’t melt entirely but stayed relatively whole. She contacted

Nestlé and struck a deal to print her recipe on all their semi-sweet

chocolate bar wrappers in exchange for a lifetime supply of

chocolate. Thus, the chocolate chip cookie was born.

 

 

POPSICLES

orange popsicle

If there is any group of society known for making accidents, it’s kids.

Some accidents such as painting the walls with crayons or giving the

cat a milk bath aren’t so great, but then you find a gem: popsicles.

Eleven-year-old Frank Epperson was making a fruit-flavoured soda

from powder and water but forgot about it overnight. With the stirring

spoon still in the cup, the mixture hardened in the freezing

temperatures outside. He pulled the stick out and loved the treat he

inadvertently made. Years later, he served them at a fireman’s ball

and they were a huge hit. He began mass-producing his creation

(originally called Eppsicles until his kids told him to scrap the name

for something more kid-friendly) which took off with

kids and adults everywhere.

 

 

PENICILLIN

Penicillium_notatum

Ever hear that not all bacteria is bad for you? Scottish scientist

Sir Alexander Fleming found this lesson out first hand. Though

searching for a panacea drug, Fleming found a curious happening

in one of his discarded Petri dishes – a rapidly growing mould was

preventing the surrounding bacteria in the dish from encroaching

on it. Growing the mould individually, he isolated the

powerful antibiotic penicillin.

 

 

MICROWAVE OVEN

Microwave_oven_flashon

One of the best accidental inventions of all time, the microwave oven

was created in 1946. United States aerospace and defence

contractor Raytheon hired Percy Spencer to work on radar technology.

While experimenting with a vacuum tube using micro-waves, a

candy bar in Spencer pocket began melting. He ran to grab some

popcorn kernels, holding them near the tube and they began

popping, making popcorn the first food ever cooked by

a microwave oven.

 

 

SLINKY

slinky toy

Research for the weapons industry has resulted in a host of accidental

inventions for general society, even fun ones. The Slinky, many a

child’s favourite toy, was made by naval engineer Richard Jones.

While designing a meter to measure power on battleships, he dropped

one of the tension springs he was working with. As it bounced

around the floor, he realized its potential as a toy.

 

 

STAINLESS STEEL

Kitchen_Knife_03_Stainless_steel_Cutting_edge

Humans have been practicing metallurgy (producing and purifying

metals) for millennia; we’ve come a long way since the Bronze and

Iron Ages. Steel – iron with added carbon – was a useful metal for

many years other than its likelihood to rust. After years of humans

trying to produce non-rusting steel, metallurgist Harry Brearly

from Sheffield, England, was successful in 1912. Experimenting

to make gun barrels which wouldn’t wear down, he tried

developing a steel alloy which wouldn’t erode. After many

experiments, he found a sample reinforced with chromium which

hadn’t rusted in his rejected alloy pile. The mixing of chromium

with air created a thin, protective film which prevented rusting,

thus stainless steel was born and revolutionized industries

from cutlery to mechanics.

 

 

VIAGRA

Viagra_in_Pack

Men (and plenty of women) rejoiced after two Pfizer Pharmaceuticals

employees, Simon Campbell and David Roberts, found an

accidental use for their drug intended to treat high blood pressure.

Unfortunately, it didn’t do much to lower blood pressure, but male

participants reported frequent erections while taking the pill. Next

tested as a remedy for erectile dysfunction, the “blue pill” (Viagra)

was approved in 1998 by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

 


View by Month