Sometimes, its not just about hard work.
Accidental Discoveries and Inventions:
Penecillin
- Antibiotic substance from the fungus Penicillium notatum, used against syphillis, gangreene, tuberculousis, pneumonia, meningitis, and more
- Discovered by Alexander Fleming, a biologist researching more effective treatment to infections the antiseptics, which he stated based on observation during WWI caused more harm than it fixed
- After returning to his lab after summer vacation, he found a huge fungus growing in his cultures of staphylococci, killing the colonies near it but leaving the rest unharmed
-This fungus had successfully killed bacteria, and with more incestigation abd purification was put on the pharmaceutical market
-Quote: "When I woke up just after dawn on September, 1928, I certainly didn't plan to revolutionize all medicine by discovering the world's first antibiotic, or bacteria killer, But I guess that was exactly what I did" - Alexander Fleming
- Antibiotic substance from the fungus Penicillium notatum, used against syphillis, gangreene, tuberculousis, pneumonia, meningitis, and more
- Discovered by Alexander Fleming, a biologist researching more effective treatment to infections the antiseptics, which he stated based on observation during WWI caused more harm than it fixed
- After returning to his lab after summer vacation, he found a huge fungus growing in his cultures of staphylococci, killing the colonies near it but leaving the rest unharmed
-This fungus had successfully killed bacteria, and with more incestigation abd purification was put on the pharmaceutical market
-Quote: "When I woke up just after dawn on September, 1928, I certainly didn't plan to revolutionize all medicine by discovering the world's first antibiotic, or bacteria killer, But I guess that was exactly what I did" - Alexander Fleming
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Chocolate Chip Cookies.
We can thank everyone's classic favorite treat: the chocolate chip cookie, to an act of Serendipity. Ruth Wakefield, while attempting to make chocolate "drop" cookies, did not have enough chocolate handy that the recipe required. (lucky for us) So, she decide to break up a candy bar and drop it in the mix, and voila - we have chocolate chip cookies.
Viagra and Enzymes - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMlmM1zpZo4
Inkjet Printers.
Discovery of the principle behind inkjet printers by a Canon engineer. After putting his hot soldering iron by accident on his pen, ink was ejected from the pen's point a few moments later.
Silly Putty.
Silly Putty, a name that is recognized among most Americans today, was discovered following World War II when James Wright, a worker for General Electric, was told to create an inexpensive alternative for rubber. By accident, Wright dropped boric acid into silicone oil, and out came silly putty! He immediately recognized its ability to stretch and bounce. However, after his discovery, it remained without use to anyone until Peter Hodgson saw it at a party and saw its potential market value. Hodgson then bought the rights from GE for $147 and packaged it in an egg shape container, so it would be appropriate for Easter. Silly Putty was a huge success, and was even used aboard Apollo 8 to secure tools!
Corn Flakes.
The Company began with the serendipitous discovery of toasted flakes which later were developed into Kellogg’s Corn Flakes®. This event set in motion a century of innovation for Kellogg. In the late 1800s at the Battle Creek Sanatorium, a combination hospital and health spa for the elite and famous, W.K. Kellogg, business manager, and his brother, Dr. John Harvey Kellogg, chief physician, were in the process of cooking some wheat for a type of granola when they were called away. When they returned, the wheat had become stale. They decided to force the tempered grain through the rollers anyway, and surprisingly, the grain did not come out in long sheets of dough. Instead each wheat berry was flattened and came out as a thin flake. This led to the formation of the Battle Creek Toasted Corn Flake Company in 1906, which eventually became Kellogg Company – changing the form of breakfast forever.
Gravity.
Newton is known for his discovery of gravity after observing an apple fall from a tree.
Post - It Notes.
The invention of the humble Post-It Note was an accidental collaboration between second-rate science and a frustrated church-goer. In 1970, Spencer Silver, a researcher for the large American corporation 3M, had been trying to formulate a strong adhesive, but ended up only managing to create a very weak glue that could be removed almost effortlessly. He promoted his invention within 3M, but nobody took any notice. 4 years later, Arthur Fry, a 3M colleague and member of his church choir, was irritated by the fact that the slips of paper he placed in his hymnal to mark the pages would usually fall out when the book was opened. One service, he recalled the work of Spencer Silver, leading to an epiphany – the church being a good a place as any to have one, I suppose – and later applied some of Silver’s weak yet non-damaging adhesive to his bookmarks. He found that the little sticky markers worked perfectly, and sold the idea to 3M. Trial marketing began in 1977, and today you’d find it hard to imagine life without them.
Microwave Oven
Shortly after the end of World War II, Percy Spencer, already known as an electronics genius and war hero, was touring one of his laboratories at the Raytheon Company. He stopped momentarily in front of a magnetron, the power tube that drives a radar set. Feeling a sudden and strange sensation, Spencer noticed that the chocolate bar in his pocket had begun to melt.Spencer, who obtained 120 patents in his lifetime, knew how to apply his curiosity. So he did what any good inventor would -- he went for some popcorn. Spencer didn't feel like a snack, he asked for unpopped popcorn. Holding the bag of corn next to the magnetron, Spencer watched as the kernels exploded into puffy white morsels.From this simple experiment, Spencer and Raytheon developed the microwave oven. The first microwave oven weighed a hefty 750 pounds and stood five feet, six inches. At first, it was used exclusively in restaurants, railroad cars and ocean liners -- places where large quantities of food had to be cooked quickly.But culinary experts quickly noticed the oven's shortcomings. Meat refused to brown. French fries turned white and limp. To make matters worse, Raytheon chairman Charles Adams' cook quit because Adams demanded he prepare food with a microwave oven.In fact, it took decades after the invention of the microwave oven for it to be refined to a point where it would be useful to the average consumer. Today, Percy Spencer's radar boxes melt chocolate and pop popcorn in millions of homes around the world.
Velcro
We wouldn't have Velcro if it wasn't for engineer Georges de Mestral taking his dog for a walk and becoming intrigued by the Burdock (Arctium lappa)) seeds that stuck to his dog's coat. Examining the seeds more closely, he saw the possibility of using hooks and loops to bind two surfaces reversibly in a simple fashion. He subsequently developed the hook and loop fastener and patented Velcro in 1951.
X-Rays
Much of the break through technology that plays a vital role in our health care has come about due to accidents, x-rays being one example. X-rays were fortunately discovered by the German physicist, Wilhelm Roentgen, while conducting an experiment with electric beams in a gas discharge tube. Roentgen noticed that not only did the fluorescent screen glow, but also it did so despite the fact that there was heavy black cardboard surrounding the tube. After noticing this, Roentgen placed several objects between the tube and screen. When placing his hand between the tube and screen he was able to see the silhouette of his bones clearly on a screen. Since then, doctors have modified this to see through anything from bones to blood vessels.
Ivory Soap
Who would have thought that a person’s forgetfulness would leas to the discovery of ivory soap?! When a soap maker accidentally went out for lunch without remembering to turn off the soap mixer, a greater amount of air than usual was packaged into the shipment of pure white soap. In a attempt to cover up his error he boxed up the soap with increased air and sent them around the country. Luckily for him, the soap was a hit and everyone requested more of what was known as the “floating soap”.
Saccharin
Saccharin, the sweetener in the pink packet, was discovered because chemist Constantin Fahlberg didn't wash his hands after a day at the office.
Prepare to get icked.
The year was 1879 and Fahlberg was trying to come up with new and interesting uses for coal tar. After a productive day at the office, he went home and something strange happened.
He noticed the rolls he was eating tasted particularly sweet. He asked his wife if she had done anything interesting to the rolls, but she hadn't. They tasted normal to her. Fahlberg realized the taste must have been coming from his hands -- which he hadn't washed.
The next day he went back to the lab and started tasting his work until he found the sweet spot.
Prepare to get icked.
The year was 1879 and Fahlberg was trying to come up with new and interesting uses for coal tar. After a productive day at the office, he went home and something strange happened.
He noticed the rolls he was eating tasted particularly sweet. He asked his wife if she had done anything interesting to the rolls, but she hadn't. They tasted normal to her. Fahlberg realized the taste must have been coming from his hands -- which he hadn't washed.
The next day he went back to the lab and started tasting his work until he found the sweet spot.
