- The Microwave
Inventor: Percy Spencer
Year: 1946
What Happened: With the end of World War II, the Raytheon engineer was looking for other uses for the magnetron, which generated the microwaves for radar systems. While Spencer was standing next to the device one day, a chocolate bar in his pocket melted.
Big Discovery: The magnetron worked even better on popcorn.
As a Result: Orville Redenbacher became very rich.
- Saccharin
Inventors: Constantin Fahlberg and Ira Remsen
Year: 1879
What Happened: After spending the day studying coal tar derivatives, Fahlberg left his Johns Hopkins laboratory and went for dinner.
Big Discovery: Something he ate tasted particularly sweet, which he traced to a chemical compound he’d spilled on his hand. Best of all, it turned out to be calorie-free.
As a Result: He cut Remsen and the university out of millions of dollars when he secretly patented the breakthrough discovery, saccharin.
- Anaesthesia
Inventor: Horace Wells
Year: 1844
What Happened: In its salad days, nitrous oxide was strictly a party toy, since it made people howl like hyenas. But a friend of the dentist took too much of the stuff at a laughing-gas stage show and gashed his leg.
Big Discovery: The friend hadn’t realized he’d hurt himself.
As a Result: Nitrous oxide became an early form of anaesthesia.
- Penicillin
Inventor: Alexander Fleming
Year: 1928
What Happened: Halfway through an experiment with bacteria, Alexander Fleming went on a vacation. Slob that he was, he left a dirty petri dish in the lab sink.
Big Discovery: When he got back, he found bacteria had grown all over the plate, except in an area where mold had formed.
As a Result: That discovery led to two things: penicillin and Mrs. Fleming hiring a maid.
So, these were the 4 inventions that were invented accidentally and changed the vision of the world.
About Author: Sajid Mostaque has total work experience of 3 years in corporate world. He is a Program Implementation Associate. He is working with STEM Learning from last 9 months.
