13 Accidental Discoveries

BacteriologistAlexander FlemingAlexander Fleming worked in a London laboratory in 1928. He left for vacation for a few weeks. Upon return, he saw one culture plate had become contaminated with staphylococcus.

He found a mold he did not recognize. It started growing but seemed to push back the staph. Fleming tried, without success, to isolate the compound giving the bacteria its antibacterial action in large amounts.

University of Oxford scientists Howard Florey and Ernst Chain mass-produced penicillin in 1939. Penicillin has since saved countless lives.

September 12, 1940. Four teenagers and a dog wandered near Montignac, France. The dog entered a narrow opening and did not return. The teenagers followed the dog through a cavern.

Deep in the cavern, they found an incredibly ornate, untouched set ofCave paintings date from 15,000 to 17,000 years ago.and stone carvings showing many animals and some mythical creatures.

These amazing paintings and carvings show ancient humanity's way of life.

American engineer Wilson Greatbatch held about 325 patents by the end of his career. In 1956, Greatbatch sought to invent a device to record heart rhythm. He added a component that sent out its own electronic pulse by mistake.inventor Wilson Greatbatch held about 325 patents by his career's end. In 1956, Greatbatch sought to invent a device to record a heart's rhythm. By accident, he added a part that sent out its own electronic pulse.Wilson Greatbatch built the pacemaker while trying to make a heart rhythm recorder.

In 1941, Swiss engineer Georges de Mestral took his dog for a walk. He saw burdock seeds stuck to his dog's fur and his coat. As an engineer, he wondered why and how the little burrs stuck to people.

In 1941, Swiss engineer Georges de Mestral made Velcro after seeing burdock seeds stick to his dog's coat.Georges de Mestral.In 1945, engineer Percy L. Spencer walked too near a magnetron tube in a radar test room. Spencer was carrying a chocolate bar in his pocket. He saw it melt, seeming to react to the running magnetron tube.

The engineer looked at the seeds under a microscope. He found thousands of tiny hooks sticking out of the seeds. He wondered if this discovery had a real use.

By 1955, he formally patented nylon fabric strips. One strip used thousands of tiny hooks; the other strip used thousands of tiny loops for the hooks to catch and fasten. His discovery means we can tie toddlers' shoes with laces only if we want to; Velcro is now available.

In 1945, engineer Percy L. Spencer walked too near a magnetron tube in a radar test room.Spencer was carrying a chocolate bar.The chocolate bar in his pocket began to melt, seemingly because of the running magnetron tube.

He aimed the magnetron at corn kernels and eggs, curious about what else it could do.

The microwave, once called the Radarange, was an expensive commercial tool. By 1967, an affordable microwave reached the American public.

In 1835, drug store owners in Worcester, England, began an experiment.John Lea and William Perrins conducted this work.A customer in India missed his fish sauce. He hired Lea and Perrins to make a similar sauce. The resulting concoction smelled strong and sat in the drug store's basement.

They forgot the sauce for two years. Then, they cleaned the cellar and found it. The sauce had fermented into a tasty condiment, which quickly spread to America later.

In 1848, Alfred Nobel had no link to the Nobel Prize then. Nobel worked on making better nitroglycerin.Nobel sought a safer way to transport nitroglycerin.Nobel carried nitroglycerin, used for mining or explosives, in casks because the blasts were unpredictable.

Some nitroglycerin leaked from a cask. Nobel inspected the substance and found soil organisms bound the nitroglycerin.

The bound chemical made a paste. This paste was safer to handle. Mixing infusorial earth and nitroglycerin improved explosions. Nobel's accidental discovery made large explosions much easier to control.

Spencer Silver was a research chemist at 3M in 1968.Silver, a research chemist at 3M in 1968, worked to create super-strong, tough adhesives. Instead, he developed...These microspheres allowed for removal and continued stickiness after multiple applications.3M did not favor a reusable adhesive. Thus, Silver's invention did not become a permanent sticky note until 1980.

A 3M coworker asked Silver for a better way to bookmark church hymnals. This led to the official birth of the Post-It note idea. Spencer Silver's accidental discovery gives us a quick, easy way to leave a passive-aggressive note for a coworker.

Dr. John Harvey Kellogg invented corn flakes.Dr. John Harvey Kellogg and his brother Will ran the Seventh-day Adventist Church's Battle Creek Sanitarium in Battle Creek, MI, in 1876. John Kellogg worked on a simple breakfast recipe. One night, the flour, oat, and cornmeal dough were accidentally left to ferment for a long time.

Workers returned to the mixture. The dough had fermented and rolled thin. Baking the sheets made crispy bits. These bits became a flaky breakfast cereal.

Mechanical engineer.Richard James.Richard James was a Navy engineer in 1943. He worked on a device to keep equipment stable on rocking naval boats. He tried different coiled wires to find a fix.

James dropped some springs. They moved end-over-end like a walk. James asked his wife to name the walking wire. She called it a Slinky. The couple sold the Slinky as a toy; it remains very popular today.

Cleo McVickers worked for her family's cleaning supply company.Kutol Products.Cleo McVickers made a deal with Kroger grocery stores to supply a new wallpaper cleaner. This cleaner was a putty made from flour, salt, water, borax, and mineral oil.

Sales dropped by the 1950s because people stopped heating homes with coal. After Cleo died, her son Joseph McVicker started selling the putty as an art supply. His sister-in-law, a school teacher, suggested this.

McVicker's putty, now called "Play-Doh," has changed makers many times. It stays a common toy for children's art.

In 1943, Swiss chemist Albert Hoffman studied fungus growing on rye. He accidentally tripped on LSD.Albert Hoffman.Hoffman added organic molecules to lysergic acid. He made this compound from fungus growing on tainted rye bread. Hoffman aimed to study the combined molecules and lysergic acid for medicine.

During lab research, Hoffman accidentally took a small amount of LSD-25. Hoffman did not know he consumed the substance. He felt hallucinations and intoxication for about two hours. Realizing the compound caused the mental state, Hoffman decided to experiment on himself for an official report.

Americans used the mind-altering compound widely in the early 1960s. The United States banned making, selling, or owning it in 1965.

In 1946, [missing name].Cocoa remained scarce because of WWII.World War II caused a lack of cocoa. Still, snack maker Pietro Ferrero found new ways to make good treats. He created the Giandujot: a spreadable sweet paste using sugar, hazelnuts, and a small amount of hard-to-find cocoa powder.

Ferrero's first hazelnut paste became a huge success. The spread kept changing and gained popularity across continents until 1964. That year, the hazelnut spread got the name Nutella; that is the creamy goodness we know now.