Mankind is great, an advancing species capable of innovating. Though it is worth to note that many significant innovations had some luck involved in the process. Would you have known if I didn’t tell you that terrariums are invented by a careless mistake? Or if the potato chips were a chef’s idea of a revenge dish prepared for a pain in the neck customer. Regardless, these inventions have taken the world by storm. Let’s take a trip down memory lane to uncover the inventions that were never meant to be.
1. Terrarium
In 1842, a sloppy mistake was committed by a botanist, and it gave rise to the very first terrarium ever. A Botanist just so happens to leave a jar unattended when in the midst of studying insects, allowing a fern spore to germinate into a plant. Well, the terrarium of that time definitely was not cute looking like the ones you make with us, but it was then that he discovered that plants could survive in an air0tight enclosure and do just fine. So terrariums were appropriated as methods of transportation to export plants from one end of the world to another. This ensured that the plants were still in good condition even when they have been on a voyage. Though the terrariums of today are used for teambuilding activity, with terrariums parked at homes instead of travelling across the world.
2. Potato Chips
One fine day in New York City, there was a very angry customer who ordered French Fried Potato. However, he was not pleased with the food that was served and kept returning the food back to the kitchen. The customer complained that the potato was too soggy for his liking and rejected the dish. Thus the chef decided that enough was enough, he was going to troll him. He sliced the Potato into really thin pieces, fried them crisp, and dips it in salt, expecting the customer to retaliate against his berserk dish. Unbeknownst to the chef, the dish would go on to become one of the most staple snacks ever.
3. Anaesthesia
Well, this is a hilarious case to talk about. In the olden days, people had a different approach to recreation activities or cohesion. These events are called laughing parties and ether frolics where people simply just breathed in ether and or nitrous oxide (laughing gas) to have an enjoyable time together. 4 smart men soon came to the realization that inhaling the gases helped to inhibit the pain receptors in people while drugged. And thanks to these great men, we could have a painless wisdom tooth extraction amongst other surgeries. Thanks for the nap time guys!
4. Velcro
Sometimes it is rewarding to take your dog on walks, at other times you just get to pick up its poop. But without this one dog walk, our childhood memories wearing Velcro shoes will never be the same. One bright and sunny day, George De Mestral, an electrical engineer took his dog for a walk. While the rest of us would just enjoy our walk, De Mestral spotted how perfectly cockleburs (a flower) were stuck tightly to his dog’s fur. He knew he was onto something big. Using this concept as a base, he ultimately developed Velcro, helping kids and lazy people wear shoes without any laces involved.
5. Coca-Cola
Who would have thought that one of the most deadly drinks in the world, capable of inducing diabetes and high blood pressure, used to be a syrup meant for curing common ailments. The creators of Coca-Cola uncovered that actually, Coca-Cola had no apparent medical properties, something that would sound ludicrous if reported today. With no other uses for Coca-Cola, they mixed Coca-Cola with soda water and gave a new life to the brand. Like they said, anything can happen, even accidents can be great too.