ACCIDENTAL INVENTIONS
Added on: 30th Dec 2015
COCA-COLA
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 – 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 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
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
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
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
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
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
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.
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