Newsweek Article – Famous Accidental Inventions.
There is an interesting photograph-based article on famous “accidental” discoveries and inventions at the Newsweek website, located here. Per the article:
Some of the biggest game-changing inventions and discoveries of our time were not the product of calculated genius, but accidents that happened to work out. These lucky mishaps have given the world everything from the awesome Slinky toy to the lifesaving antibiotic penicillin. In many cases they’ve also reshaped major industries or created entirely new ones. NEWSWEEK takes a look at some of the most serendipitous breakthroughs in history and how they came about.
We recommend reading this article, if you have a few minutes to spare. Are there any other “accidental'” inventions that are readership believes are worth mentioning? Feel free to leave a comment if you can think of any!
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Silly Putty! It was discovered by accident during WWII when an alternative to rubber was sought.
Vulcanized rubber also comes to mind . . . although this is apparently still up for debate! See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vulcanized_rubber .
Loved it. Saccharin – if kids knew about this, they might not ever wash their hands. Thanks for sharing!
A certain heart medicine wasn’t working the way doctors expected it to – so they tried to take it away from their patients. The patients objected vigorously. When the doctors got to the bottom of it, they discovered their heart patients were getting raging hard-ons. Viola – Viagra.