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Bizarre Accidental Discoveries
1. LSD
Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann was trying to come up with a
chemical to induce childbirth. Instead he developed lysergic
acid diethylamide, or LSD. After he tried a bigger dose, he
made another discovery: a bad acid trip.
2. X-ray
Several 19th-century scientists played around with the
penetrating rays emitted when electrons struck a metal
target. But the x-ray wasn't discovered until 1895, when
Wilhelm Röntgen tried sticking various objects in front of
the radiation - and saw the bones of his hand projected on
a wall.
3. Penicillin
Scottish scientist Alexander Fleming was researching the flu
in 1928 when he noticed that a blue-green mold had infected
one of his petri dishes - and killed the staphylococcus
bacteria growing in it.
4. Microwave ovens
The microwave oven came along in the 1940s. Microwave emit-
ters (or magnetrons) were being used to power Allied radar
during WWII. It was after a magnetron melted a candy bar in
Raytheon engineer Percy Spencer's pocket that the common
use for a microwave emitter was realized.
5. Potato chips
Chef George Crum concocted the perfect sandwich complement
in 1853 when - to spite a customer who complained that his
fries were cut too thick - he sliced a potato paper-thin and
fried it to a crisp.
6. Artificial sweeteners
Speaking of botched lab jobs, three leading pseudo-sugars
reached human lips only because scientists forgot to wash
their hands. Cyclamate (1937) and aspartame (1965) are
byproducts of medical research, and saccharin (1879) appear-
ed during a project on coal tar derivatives.
As of 1940, total of ninety patents had been taken out on shaving mugs.
The best angle to approach any problem is the try-angle.
- Unknown
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