Of course, many scientists and inventors spent their entire lives looking for the right solutions for their own discoveries that could simplify and improve a person's life. But, as it turned out, many important and essential inventions "came into being" purely by accident.
We collected 25 all known things that nobody planned to create. It just so happened. And most importantly, today we do not imagine life without these discoveries!
1. Substitute sugar - saccharin
At least once in life, each of us tried a sugar substitute. But few people thought about how it was invented. In 1879 Konstantin Felberg, a chemist, was studying coal tar, trying to find an alternative version of its use. And, as usual, after returning home after a hard day's work, he noticed that his wife's cupcakes are much tastier and sweeter than usual. Asking his wife what was wrong, he guessed that he forgot to wash his hands after working with tar. That's how the sugar substitute was used, which is used all over the world, replacing the usual white.
2. Clever dust
Smart dust is an invention of nanotechnology, implying small, invisible wireless devices that operate as a single system. Smart dust appeared thanks to the graduate student of the University of California Jamie Link, who studied the silicon chip. The chip exploded, and Jamie visited the idea that small pieces could also function separately, as a single system. Today, this technology is used to detect everything from deadly tumors to biological agents.
3. Potato chips
Yes, it turns out that a favorite snack could not appear in our life. In 1853, the chef at New York's George Cram restaurant accidentally invented chips. And so, as it happened: a dissatisfied customer returned a dish of potato slices to the kitchen, saying that it was too "wet". Then the irritated Kram decided to teach the client a lesson and sliced potatoes in thin slices, roasted until crisp and sprinkled abundantly with salt. To the surprise of the cook, the dish was pleasant to the client. So there were chips.
4. Coca-Cola
A legendary drink, whose taste is familiar to everyone, appeared as a medicine during the civil war thanks to the military doctor John Pemberton. It is for this reason that cocaine is present in Coca-Cola's original composition.
5. Fruit ice
In 1905, soda was one of the most popular drinks. 11-year-old Frank Epperson decided that he could save some of his pocket money if he made a soda at home. By combining the powder and water, Frank was as close to a similar taste of soda water, but because of confusion, he accidentally left the water on the porch for the whole night. When Frank went out on the porch in the morning, he saw that the mixture was frozen with the left stick for stirring.
6. Waffle cones for ice cream
Until 1904, ice cream was served in a bowl. And only during the World Exhibition there were waffle horns. The kiosk at the exhibition had such a delicious ice cream that the demand for it was too big, and the plates quickly ended. At that time, at a neighboring kiosk with Persian wafers, there was absolutely no trade, so the sellers decided to join forces. They began to fold the waffles and put ice cream there. That's how the waffle horns appeared.
7. Teflon coating
Many housewives know that the Teflon coating of the frying pans is a find that helped out many times. And this invention appeared in the early 20th century thanks to the chemist Roy Plunkett, who accidentally stumbled upon the repelling properties of refrigerants. The company where Roy worked, quickly patented this discovery.
8. Vulcanized rubber
Charles Goodyear spent many years trying to find a rubber that would be resistant to heat and frost. After several unsuccessful attempts, he finally found a mixture that worked. Before turning off the light in the workshop, Charles accidentally spilled rubber, sulfur and lead onto the stove. The mixture was charred and hardened. In doing so, it could be used.
9. Plastic
In the early 1900s, shellac was used as an insulating material. This is a natural product made from resin, which is produced by southeast lacquer worms. Therefore, chemist Leo Hendrik Bakeland decided that he could get rich if he came up with an alternative to expensive resin. But, what he came up with was plastic, which, under the influence of high temperatures, did not change its properties. The invention instantly became popular and received the name Bakelite.
10. Radioactivity
In 1896, the physicist Henri Becquerel conducted research on luminescence and x-rays. Exploring phosphorescence in uranium salts, Henry needed bright sunlight. But that day in Paris was cloudy weather. Then the scientist wrapped the uranium salt in black paper and put it in a box on the photographic plate. A week later he returned to continue the study. But, showing the film, he saw a print of salt on paper, which appeared there without the influence of light.
11. Mawein dye
Artificial dye appeared due to the unsuccessful experiment of 18-year-old chemist William Perkin, who was trying to create a cure for malaria. But the scientist's failure completely turned the world around. In 1856, William noticed that his experiment, or rather a turbid mash, painted the cup in a beautiful color. So there was the world's first synthetic dye, which was named Mowein.
12. Pacemaker
Greatbatch Wilson worked on creating a device that could record the rhythm of a person's heart. But during the experiment, he accidentally inserted into the mechanism is not the resistor. As a result, the device perfectly simulated the rhythm of the heart. So there was the first implantable pacemaker.
13. Paper Stickers
In 1968, Spencer Silver tried to invent a strong glue for Scotch tape, but came across a material that had adhesive properties, but if desired easily peeled off without leaving traces. After many unsuccessful attempts to find use for this glue, Silver's colleague, Art Fry realized that the glue can be used for paper notes - stickers.
14. Microwaves
All people on the planet should be grateful to Navy specialist Percy Spencer for discovering microwaves that we use today in microwave ovens. Percy was busy with the microwave emitters when he accidentally noticed that the chocolate bar in his pocket began to melt. And since 1945, no one in the world knew the problems with heating food.
15. Slinky - a toy spring
In 1943, US Navy engineer Richard James experimented with springs, trying to invent a device for the ship. He accidentally dropped the twisted wire onto the floor. And the wire jumped and jumped amusingly. Since then, there was a genuine interest in this toy, which everyone liked: both adults and children.
16. Children's Plasticine Play-Do
One of the most beloved children's toys appeared by pure chance. Initially, a viscous sticky mass was nothing more than an ordinary wallpaper cleaner. However, in the early 20th century people stopped using coals for heating houses, which means that the wallpaper remained clean much longer. But, fortunately, the son of the ingenious inventor Cleo McQuicker discovered that from this mass you can sculpt various figures.
17. Adhesive moment
In the process of developing a plastic lens for sights, Harry Kuver, a researcher at the Kodak laboratory, came across a synthetic glue made from cyanoacrylate. But at the time, Harry rejected this discovery because of super-flop. A few years later, this substance was rediscovered and appeared on the market as a well-known "super glue".
18. Velcro fastener
The French engineer George de Mestral was on a hunt with his dog when he noticed that the burdock was tightly clinging to the wool of his four-legged friend. In the end, he managed to recreate such material in the laboratory. But the invention was not popularized until NASA recognized it.
19. X-ray beams
In 1895, William Roentgen, during an experiment with cathode rays, accidentally discovered that the radiation of a cathode ray tube passes through solid things, leaving behind a shadow. The only explanation for this was that the rays of light passed right through the partitions.
20. Non-fouling glass
French chemist Edward Benedict accidentally knocked the flask on the floor, but it miraculously did not break, but only cracked. Surprised, Edward decided to study the flask more thoroughly and found that the cellulose nitrates contained in the flask before that made the glass strong. So there was a safety glass.
21. Corn flakes
When Waite Kate Kellogg helped his brother prepare food for the sick in the hospital, he accidentally discovered that the dough, left over for several hours, changes its properties. And then Waite decided to see what would happen if he cooked flaky pastry as long as possible. Although it is not known exactly what happened as a result of this culinary experiment, but the history of the appearance of the first cornflakes is exactly this.
22. Dynamite
Do not think that people have only recently learned to blow something up. For many years people used nitroglycerin and gunpowder, which, nevertheless, differed in the instability of their properties. Once Alfred Nobel worked in a laboratory with nitroglycerin and accidentally dropped the vial from his hands. But the explosion did not follow, and Nobel remained alive, without getting injured. As it turned out later, the substance fell directly on wood chips, which absorbed nitroglycerin into itself. So it was concluded that nitroglycerin when mixed with any dense substance becomes stable.
23. Anesthesia
It is difficult to say who is involved in the invention of anesthesia, but definitely everyone can thank for this discovery of Crawford Long, William Morton and Charles Jackson. It was they who first discovered the amazing analgesic properties of various drugs, such as nitrous oxide or gay gas.
24. Stainless steel
Today, we do not represent our life without cutlery, which were invented by the English metallurgist Harry Briarli. Harry created the barrel of the gun, which did not rust. Soon after, the metallurgist tested his offspring with various caustic substances. Successfully testing the lemon juice on it, Harry realized that his metal would be an excellent material for cutlery.
25. Penicillin
Studying staphylococci, Alexander Fleming added bacteria to the Petri dish before leaving for vacation and left them. After returning from vacation, Fleming expected to see the overgrown colony of bacteria, but, to his surprise, he saw there only mold. After the examination, the scientist discovered that a by-product of mold inhibited the growth of staphylococci, thus opening the world's first antibiotic.