Ingenious inventions that appeared by accident

Scientists spend years of their lives on their inventions. But, as it turned out, not all scientific discoveries are the result of lengthy experiments and exhausting reflections. We at Joy-pup have compiled a list of brilliant inventions that came about by accident.

Paper stickers

To date, stickers have become so commonplace that no one wonders where they came from. But this sticky note paper appeared as a result of an unsuccessful experiment. In 1970, an employee of the American company Spencer Silver tried to invent a strong adhesive substance for rockets. But what came out of it as a result turned out to be a very weak adhesive substance that easily peeled off and left no traces. The researcher did not know where to apply the resulting new grade of glue. In general, the worthless invention remained unclaimed for several years.

But 5 years later, his colleague Arthur Fry found a use for this glue. The fact is that Fry was very fond of singing in the church choir and was very annoyed by the fact that while serving in the church, bookmarks from the Bible constantly fall out. Then he remembered the glue, which could fix paper bookmarks without damaging the pages of the book. As a result, Silver, Fry and several other specialists developed a whole line of products, and it all started with the task of creating glue for rockets.

Champagne

Probably, many people know that the very first champagne in the world was invented by the Benedictine monk Dom Pierre Perignon, however, he did not at all intend to make wine with bubbles. Initially, the monk wanted to cater to the tastes of the French court and create an ordinary white wine. However, due to the cool climate of the province, it was necessary to stretch the fermentation process of wine for two years, because of which gas bubbles formed in the drink, and barrels often exploded. Then the monk suggested storing the wine in barrels for the first year, and pouring it into bottles for the second year, thus protecting the wine from an explosion.
For several more years, Perignon tried with all his might to get rid of the bubbles, because in those days sparkling wine was considered a sign of a bad winemaker, but the monk did not succeed. Fortunately, the new sparkling wine was liked by the aristocracy of both the French and English courts.

Fireworks

About 2,000 years ago, a Chinese cook experimented with sulfur, saltpeter, and charcoal, which were common in the kitchen at that time. In general, it is clear what this led to. What that cook was thinking is unknown, but he continued to experiment and found out that the powder explodes when burned in a green bamboo stalk. After a few attempts, the chef learned how to get various colored explosions and effects, creating what we now all call fireworks.

Chocolate paste

Chocolate paste is loved by both adults and children. But few people know that such a brilliant invention happened due to chance. The Italian confectioner Pietro Ferrero owned a small shop where he sold his own sweets. One summer day, he took so long to get to work that all the sweets he had prepared melted away. And in order to sell at least something, the confectioner decided to spread the resulting mass on bread. The sweet snack sold out instantly, and the profits turned out to be much larger.
Pietro tried for a long time to reproduce from melted sweets the paste that everyone liked so much. He studied a lot of literature and selected components. And, finally, after six months, the confectioner got a delicious cream with an amazing chocolate and nutty taste. After just a month, the new cream conquered all of Italy. And in 1964, he received the name Nutella and glorified his creator throughout the world.

Plasticine

As a substance, plasticine did not appear by chance. But its current use, which is familiar to us today, became possible thanks to pure chance. Before plasticine became one of the favorite toys of children, it was used as a cleaning paper wallpaper.

However, in 1954 in the United States, a teacher brought this plastic sticky substance to a kindergarten to show children its properties. The delight of the kids knew no bounds, and the woman suggested the idea of ​​using a cleaning agent as a modeling material to her father-in-law, Joseph McVicker, who was an employee of the plasticine factory.

McVicker assessed the commercial value of the cleaner and pitched the idea to his management. The result was the opening of his own workshop in production. McVicker also improved the composition of the material for children’s modeling – they began to add dyes and flavors to it. So plasticine was born.