Stories of lucky accidents
Kodak invented Super Glue? Learn about 10 discoveries made by mistake
Published on October 2, 2024
Image: Jarritos Mexican Soda
Inventions are often conceived through order and precision. But sometimes they’re not. As history shows, on occasion it’s the chaotic, messy moments that lead to the greatest discoveries. From accidentally boiling tea leaves in their containing silk bag to forgetting a soda outside on a freezing night, these everyday objects owe their existence to observant and creative minds who found silver linings in mishaps. Let’s look into the creation of 10 well-known products that were born on days when things went wrong.
Teabags
Image: Skitterphoto
People weren’t supposed to dip the small bundles of tea leaves in hot water. At least, that was not what American trader Thomas Sullivan intended in 1904 when he shipped samples of his tea to Europe in small silk bags to keep the leaves neatly separated. He hoped buyers would open the bags and pour hot water over the leaves using strainers, as was customary back then. However, many customers found that the silk bags were very practical for making tea easily.
This observation led to the development of small bags for marketing tea. Gradually, the industry evolved from silk bags to more sustainable and cheaper options. It was 30 years later that parchment paper dual-chamber bags were invented, leading to the teabags we know today.
Champagne
Image: Tristan Gassert
Though wine had been produced in the northern French region of Champagne since Roman times, the Champenois had a long-lasting problem: refermentation. In winter, cold temperatures would halt the fermentation process. Dormant yeast cells would reactivate with the warmth of spring, releasing carbon dioxide gas. This pressure sometimes incorporated bubbles into the drink, and at worst, caused the bottles to explode in the cellars.
Dom Pierre Perignon, a monk in the 17th century, was tasked with finding a solution to refermentation. He experimented with grape varieties and processes for making wine, which led to the erroneous myth that he invented Champagne. While he was indeed the creator of winemaking practices that are relevant today, Champagne, as we know it today, was simply the evolution of that fizzy wine, which Champenois decided, in the end, wasn’t such a bad idea.
Brandy
Image: Eva Bronzini
16th-century Dutch traders are credited with the invention of Brandy. Its name derives from the Dutch term for "burnt wine": brandewijn. That alone hints at an interesting story.
When wine needed to be stored to travel on long sea journeys, Dutch traders developed a heating distilling system to preserve it. The idea was to make a very concentrated version that could be rehydrated with water upon arrival. However, eventually, they noticed that this "burnt" version, when stored in wooden casks, developed a unique flavor and aroma that people enjoyed. This discovery led to different regions developing their own variations, giving rise to alternatives such as cognac and Armagnac.
Popsicles
Image: Taylor Heery
The creator of Popsicles was an 11-year-old, according to the company. One day in 1905, he forgot a cup of soda with a stirring stick outside on a cold night. By the next morning, he realized that the drink had frozen, but the stick made it easy to handle. Curious, he gave the frozen soda a try and liked it.
His name was Frank Epperson, and he initially called his invention as "Epsicles" and sold them locally. It wasn’t until he was an adult that he decided to patent the invention and commercialize it on a larger scale. Eventually, Epsicles were sold worldwide. The story goes that, because Frank’s children referred to them as "Pop’s sicles," the product was eventually rebranded as "Popsicles."
Saccharin
Image: Mathilde Langevin
According to the story, Constantin Fahlberg was enjoying his dinner after a long day working in the lab when he noticed that his bread tasted unusually sweet. He traced this quality back to a compound he had been studying earlier. He was a chemist analyzing coal tar at Johns Hopkins University, and that day in 1879 he had been handling a derivative called benzoic sulfimide.
After this discovery, aided by his mentor Ira Remsen, Fahlberg developed a synthesis of the substance he named "saccharin" (inspired by the Latin word for sugar, saccharon). The artificial sweetener soon became commercially available and was widely used during sugar shortages that occurred in World War I.
Smoke Detector
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Nowadays, smoke detectors come in very compact plastic enclosures, making them easy to install in many homes. But they weren’t always the ceiling disks that we know today.
In the late 1930s, Swiss physicist Walter Jaeger was working on a device that would alert
people of poisonous gas leaks. Legend has it that, while taking a frustration break near one of his failed inventions, he lit a cigarette, and the machine detected it. The device was triggered and Jaeger realized that it could alert people of the presence of smoke. The first versions of the device were only available for industrial use until American businessman Duane Pearsall developed a battery-powered detector in 1965, practical for home use.
Friction Matches
Image: Ian Talmacs
In 1826, John Walker, an English chemist, accidentally invented matches while trying to create a new lighting method. He was mixing chemicals with a stick, and when he scraped the stick on the floor to clean it, the chemicals ignited, sparking the idea of lighting chemicals by friction.
He presented this concept in London and inventor Samuel Jones adopted it into the first version of friction matches. These early matches were unpredictable, often igniting with sparks and producing strong fumes. For this reason, as well as for marketing purposes, these early prototypes were known as "Lucifers" for many years.
Super Glue
Image: Ksenia Chernaya
In 1942, Harry Coover was an inventor at Eastman Kodak Company, where the team was trying to develop clear plastic guns to supply to Allied soldiers during World War II. They were testing the material cyanoacrylate, a compound that turned out to be incredibly durable but extremely sticky, so it was discarded.
A decade later, while reviewing his notes, Coover remembered cyanoacrylate and returned to its investigation. He quickly realized that it was a powerful substance for holding things together, without the need for pressure or heat. In the 1950s, the Eastman team marketed this product as "Eastman 910," which was later renamed "Super Glue."
Implantable Pacemaker
Image: falco
This is another example of life-changing technology born thanks to a machine not doing what it was supposed to. In 1958, engineer Dr. Wilson Greatbatch was trying to design equipment that would record the rhythm of the heart. He installed an incorrect resistor in the circuit and observed that the system produced intermittent pulses.
This discovery led to the design of a small device that could aid the beating of a human heart, though it took time to develop one that could be implanted. By 1958, Greatbatch and his collaborators had created a prototype that was tested on patients. The doctor spent the following decades iterating and perfecting his invention.
X-rays
Image: Owen Beard
We conclude with one of the most famous examples: German physics professor Wilhelm Röntgen stumbled on what he called "X-rays" by accident. Imagine experimenting with cathode rays in 1895 and suddenly noticing that a strange glow can pass through several opaque objects in your office.
In preliminary articles, Röntgen referred to this radiation as "X" to signify that its type was unknown. The label stuck even as these rays were further experimented with. Its medical relevance soon became obvious, and the first photographic plate made with X-rays was of his wife’s hand. Records say that upon seeing the image of her bones, she remarked, "I have seen my death."
