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Perhaps there is hardly a person who has not heard from childhood all sorts of proverbs and sayings about the need to work hard to get the desired result. For example, phrases such as “no water flows under a rolling stone” and “you can’t easily pull out a fish from a pond” are well known to most people. Even the famous inventor Thomas Edison said that "Everything comes to someone who works and knows how to wait." However, often brilliant ideas can come to mind quite by accident.
Here are 10 inventions that have come into use in almost every person, but they were created by chance.
1. Dynamite
Dynamite was discovered by Alfred Nobel. Beginning in 1859, Nobel, his father and younger brother experimented with explosive liquid nitroglycerin, trying to make it more stable, to avoid accidental explosions. Once the flask with the substance fell on the floor, where there was a lot of sawdust. Sawdust gave a little stability, and the bubble did not explode. Nobel improved the formula by adding silica to nitroglycerin. That is how dynamite appeared.
2. Vaseline
In 1859, the English chemist Robert Chezbro noticed that oil industry workers often complain about the wax substance “paraffin” that accumulated in the pipes of oil pumps. Chezbro decided to take a paraffin sample for a series of experiments, during which it turned out that the “oil jelly” obtained from paraffin has an excellent wound-healing effect. So, Chezbro assigned this jelly the name “Vaseline” (from it. Wasser - water and Greek. Elaion-oil). Vaseline was applied at that time almost everywhere - from cleaning the carpet to cleansing the nose. The chemist was so sure of the miraculous power of Vaseline that he used his food a spoonful of food a day. By the way, he died at the age of 96 years.
3. Viagra
Initially, the purpose of Viagra was intended as a treatment for angina pectoris. However, when the pharmaceutical development company Pfizer studied the side effects, it was established that high blood pressure did not drop in the subjects, but there was an excellent erection. As a result, the company changed the purpose of the tests and began to explore erectile dysfunction and the effects of its drug on it. And in 1998, the Office of Quality Control approved Viagra. Since then, many men began a new active life.
4. LSD
D-lysergic acid diethylamide was discovered by the Swiss scientist Albert Hofmann also randomly. He tried to create a drug that could alleviate the pain of women in labor. The substance obtained in the laboratory seemed to the chemist to be unremarkable and he put off his development indefinitely. But in 1943, while working with a substance (without gloves) and accidentally receiving an excessively large dose of a substance, Hofman understood the true properties of the compound obtained. As the scientist himself said, he felt "a continuous stream of fantastic pictures, unusual shapes with an intense kaleidoscopic game of color."
5. Stainless steel
At the beginning of the twentieth century, English metallurgist Harry Brearly, who experimented with various types and properties of alloys, tried to create an alloy of steel for the manufacture of weapons. In 1913, he discovered the ability of steel with a high content of chromium (12.8%) with carbon to resist the acids of vinegar and lemon juice. Later, the inventor realized that the resulting alloy can be perfectly applicable to cutlery, which was made of silver and carbon steel and gradually came into disrepair due to corrosion.
6. Inkjet printer
One day while working, one of Canon’s engineers accidentally placed a hot soldering iron on a ballpoint pen. From heat ink flowed. So, in fact, the idea arose to create an inkjet printer.
7. Superglue
Since 1942, the American physicist Dr. Harry Coover, who worked for Eastman Kodak, has been trying to separate transparent plastic for optical sights of portable weapons. In the course of the experiment, he worked with cyanocrylate, which firmly glued the test materials. However, the substance was rejected due to excessive stickiness. In 1951, during a search for heat-resistant coatings for fighters, American researchers accidentally discovered the property of cyanoacrylate to firmly glue various surfaces. At this time, Coover assessed the potential of a substance, and in 1958, superglue first went on sale, literally “blowing up” the market.
By the way, during the Vietnam War, superglue was used to stop bleeding in open wounds. Thus, the invention, which was supposed to improve the weapon, saved many lives.
8. Stickers
Clay was invented by American physicist Spencer Silver. However, self-adhesive notes for notes were created by Arthur Frey. In 1968, Silver tried to develop glue for perfect work with paper, which would allow to keep the paper on the surface, but not much, and so that you can remove the paper without tearing it. Moreover, this glue had to remain sticky for reusable use. In the company where Silver worked, this idea did not interest anyone until Arthur Fry began to use glue to glue the bookmarks in the hymnal. It was then that he proposed using the substance to create sticky reusable bookmarks. So the idea was approved and gained the widest popularity in the world.
9. Microwave
American engineer Percy Spencer, who worked in the company Raytheon, engaged in the manufacture of equipment for radar, reports ru.wikipedia.org, in 1946, conducted experiments with another magnetron. Spencer noticed that a piece of chocolate in his pocket melted. The inventor suggested that this was due to the magnetron and placed popcorn grains next to the device. After receiving the popcorn, Spencer decided to cook an egg, but it exploded. According to another version, he noticed that the sandwich on the switched on magnetron had become hot. Perhaps the cause of the invention was just a burn, but for commercial reasons it was impractical to spoil the image of the device. All this led him to the idea that low-frequency energy helps to cook food quickly, and a year later the first microwave oven appeared and was patented.
10. Tea bag
In one of the stores in New York, the seller Thomas Sullivan decided that selling tea in silk bags would be much more convenient. This idea appealed to customers and sales of tea soared to unprecedented heights. Interviewing the buyers, Sullivan found out that they mistakenly put the full bags of tea in boiling water, and they really liked the result.
Therefore, of course, in order to invent something truly great, a person needs not only knowledge, diligence and hard work, but also trivial luck. It is not for nothing that they say that all ingenious is simple.
Based on materials adme.ru.
The article is based on materials .
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