What inventions did the laziest people come up with. What invention came about thanks to the shark

Kyiv Cake, Viagra, Dynamite and LSD. Imagine, but all this (and much more) was created quite by accident!

An invention that appears by chance is always happy, although it raises many tricky questions like “What if?” or “How will it take root?”. Sometimes the results and success can stun even the most unlucky inventor who thought that he “did not succeed” or “it turned out wrong.” There are a lot of things invented by pure chance or absurdity. For example, these 20 finds. Maybe they appeared by mistake, but without them the world would be very different.

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Pfizer was only trying to invent a cure for heart disease. After clinical trials in 1992, it turned out that in this case the new drug did not help at all. But there is a side effect that no one expected - the resulting substance has a pronounced effect on blood flow in the pelvic organs (including the penis). This is how Viagra appeared.

2. Slinky - walking spring

Everyone loves this toy, even if the name "Slinky" is unusual for you and you insist on the Russian version - "Rainbow". In any case, this invention came about by chance. Naval engineer Richard Jones worked on a power level recorder. As part of the work, he had to experiment with the tension of the springs, but accidentally dropped one of the springs while working. Having fallen to the floor, she "jumped" - and this is how the Slinky toy appeared. Sorry Rainbow.

Once the confectioners forgot to put a batch of egg white intended for biscuit in the refrigerator. The next morning, the head of the biscuit shop, Konstantin Nikitovich Petrenko, with the help of 17-year-old assistant confectioner Nadezhda Chernogor, in order to hide the mistake of his colleagues, at his own peril and risk, shifted the frozen protein cakes with butter cream, sprinkled with vanilla powder, decorated the surface with a floral ornament. This is how the predecessor of the cake appeared, which was destined for many decades to become calling card Kyiv.

4. Microwave

What would we do without a microwave? But they might not have appeared at all if it were not for the fateful chocolate bar of one scientist. Percy Spencer worked as an engineer for the Raytheon Corporation. He was testing radar equipment when he discovered something amazing. While working, he noticed that thanks to the microwave radiation, the chocolate bar in his pocket had melted. To test his find, he put popcorn on the magnetron, which started to burst. Thus began the era of microwave ovens.

5. Penicillin

Classic " random inventions"- penicillin. British bacteriologist Alexander Fleming literally lived in his laboratory and even ate right at his desk. And the scientist had neither the time nor the desire to clean up. So during the study of staphylococcus bacteria, it happened greatest discovery- one of the samples was killed by mold spores, which the professor had everywhere - even on the ceiling. Anticipating that he was on the verge of an amazing discovery, Fleming examined this mold and realized that it contained penicillin, a substance that later saved many lives.

6. Chocolate Chip Cookies

Such a delicious invention, which also appeared unintentionally! It was invented by Ruth Wakefield, who was the owner of the Toll House Inn. When Ruth was baking chocolate chip cookies one day, she realized she didn't have enough cocoa, which she used to mix with flour. Instead, she used chocolate chips that she added directly to the dough. The chocolate stuck together, but did not melt - and that's how cookies with chocolate pieces appeared.

Another substance, without which our life is unthinkable, and even more so the automotive industry. And the discovery took place quite by accident - the young scientist Charles Goodyear decided to check what would happen if rubber was mixed with magnesia, lime or nitric acid. Well, there was no response. But after the rubber was mixed with sulfur, and even accidentally dropped onto a hot surface, the scientist got elastic rubber, which is now used to produce everything - from balls to car tires. After thinking about the result and improving the method, in 1844 Charles Goodyear patented it, naming it after Vulcan, the ancient Roman god of fire.

8. Potato chips

George Crum was a cafe chef in New York. He once made the world's first potato chips, which were cooked to the whims of a particularly picky customer. The client wanted a plate of fried potatoes, but he did not like how the dish crunches, or rather, does not crunch. Krum was so fed up with this nitpick that he simply cut the potatoes into incredibly thin slices and fried them until they were oh-oh-oh-so-very crispy. The client was satisfied and asked for more.

9. Ice cream on a stick

We are talking about popsicles, or even frozen juice on a stick, which is known and loved by millions. But the author of this product discovered a way to create such ice cream when he was 11 years old (it was in 1905). He poured a sweet powder for making drinks into the water and left the cup outside during the cold season. And yes, he also left a stirring stick in the water. After it all froze, the boy really liked the resulting product.

He showed it to all his friends and forgot about it all. He remembered his “invention” only 18 years later. This is how Epsicles ice cream was born. Well, other manufacturers eventually began to produce their own versions of such ice cream. We see the result today - thousands of types of popsicles, juice on a stick and all others.

10. Sticky note paper

These colorful goodies have changed the lives of students around the world for the better. Spencer Silver was the accidental inventor of this charm. Silver worked in the laboratory - he tried to come up with a strong adhesive substance. But he accidentally created just the opposite - a sticky substance that was strong enough to lightly stick to surfaces, but weak enough to be easily peeled off. Someone from the laboratory thought of putting this substance on pieces of paper - and this sticky note paper, which is used by the whole world, was born.

11. Chocolate paste

The Italian confectioner Pietro Ferrero made sweets in the early 20th century and sold them at the local fair. Once, he took so long to get ready that the heat caused his chocolate treats to melt. In order to sell at least something, Pietro spread the resulting shapeless mass on bread and ... became the inventor of Nutella chocolate paste. Today, the company, named after its founder, is one of the most profitable in the world.

In 1941, Swiss engineer George de Mestral decided to take a walk in the mountains with his dog. When he returned, he saw a lot of seeds on his clothes, which were covered with small hooks ... George appreciated how tightly the natural Velcro stuck to the fabric. Then the material was created, which is known in the English-speaking environment as Velcro. Velcro has grown in popularity since the textile element was applied to the NASA uniform. It has become widely used in the manufacture of civilian clothing and footwear.

Quite by accident, in 1895, Wilhelm Roentgen put his hand in front of a cathode ray tube and immediately saw its image on a photographic plate. He noticed that the radiation from a cathode ray tube passes through quite a hard objects(or through body parts), leaving a shadow. Moreover, the denser the object, the stronger the shadow. Just a few months later, a picture of the hand of the scientist's wife appeared, which is very famous. In general, if not for the observation of Roentgen, we would not have been able to find out what happened to the joint there - either just a bruise, or a fracture, or something else.

Saccharin, an artificial sweetener under the Sweet'N Low brand, is 400 times sweeter than regular sugar. The recipe for its creation was invented by Konstantin Fahlberg, who was studying coal tar at that time. After a long day, he forgot to wash his hands before sitting down at the table. Taking a bun in his hands and biting off a piece, he noticed that it was much sweeter than usual - like everything that he later took in his hands. The scientist returned to the laboratory and began to taste all the substances until he found the source of the sweet taste. Fahlberg patented saccharin in 1884 and started it mass production. Soon, diabetics began to use saccharin as a low-calorie sugar substitute.

In 1956, Wilson Greatbatch was developing a device that records heart beats. By accidentally installing the wrong resistor in the device, he discovered that it produced electrical impulses. This made him think about the heartbeat and the electrical activity of the heart itself. He thought that this electrical stimulation would make it possible to compensate for the low heart rate at those moments when the muscles of the body cannot cope on their own. He began to work on his device, and in May 1958 the first pacemaker was implanted in a dog.

Nitroglycerin was widely used as an explosive, but had some drawbacks - it was unstable and often wounded "the wrong people." Once in the laboratory, Alfred Nobel, while working with nitroglycerin, dropped the vial from his hands. But the explosion did not happen, and Nobel survived. It turned out that the nitroglycerin had landed in the wood shavings that had absorbed it. So Nobel realized that mixing nitroglycerin with any inert substance or material helps to achieve its stability.

In 1903, Edouard Benedictus, a French scientist, dropped a glass test tube filled with a solution of cellulose nitrate onto the floor. The test tube broke, but did not shatter into fragments. It turned out that the liquid enveloping the inside of the test tube held the glass fragments together. It was the first safety glass - a product used today in the automotive industry, for the production of safety glasses and in many other places.

This substance was invented by Noah McVicker, who sought to create a substance for cleaning paper wallpapers. At that time, houses were often heated by a fireplace, and the soot that remained on the walls was easily cleaned off using the material invented by Noah McVicker. With the advent of vinyl wallpaper that could be cleaned with a sponge, there was no need to use a wallpaper cleaner. However, McVicker was given a different idea for using his product: a teacher from kindergarten proposed to use the substance as a material for modeling. Then the detergent component was removed from the material, a dye was added and the name easily perceived by children - Play-doh (“Pleydo”) - this is how plasticine was born.

19. Superglue

This substance imperceptibly entered our lives, and now such glue helps to restore absolutely broken things. Few people know that cyanoacrylate, as superglue is scientifically called, was invented during World War II, when a transparent plastic was needed for sights. It did not fit for sights, but it turned out that this glue can instantly glue everything. For example, he glued wounds, and the Americans used it in Vietnam. After that, it began to be used in everyday life, which we still do.

Probably, the legendary 1960s would not have been such a revolutionary and creative time, if not for the "acid". In 1943, Albert Hoffman conducted research using lysergic acid derivatives, a powerful chemical, first extracted from a fungus grown on rye. The results of his research were supposed to be used in pharmacology. During the study, he accidentally ingested some of this substance and went on the first ever hallucinogenic acid "trip". Intrigued, he intentionally took the drug on April 19, 1943, in order to "detail" the effect of the drug. This was the first planned experiment with LSD.

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Dozens of things that we use every day, appeared due to a simple accident. The most famous such discovery, of course, is the discovery of America by Christopher Columbus, who actually sailed towards Asia. And now, according to Washington ProFile, American researcher Charlotte Jones\Charlotte Foltz Jones has published the book "Mistakes That Worked"\Mistakes That Worked, in which she collected many examples of errors that, to a greater or lesser extent, influenced the life of mankind.

"Coca Cola"

In 1886, doctor and pharmacist John Pemberton tried to prepare a potion based on an extract from the leaves of the South American coca plant and African kola nuts, which have tonic properties. Pemberton tasted the finished mixture and realized that it tasted good. Pemberton believed that this syrup could help people suffering from fatigue, stress and toothache. The pharmacist took the syrup to the largest pharmacy in the city of Atlanta. On the same day, the first portions of the syrup were sold, at five cents a glass. However, the Coca-Cola drink appeared as a result of negligence. By chance, the seller, diluting the syrup, mixed up the taps and poured sparkling water instead of ordinary. The resulting mixture became Coca-Cola. Initially, this drink did not have great success. In his first year of soda production, Pemberton spent $79.96 advertising the new drink, but was only able to sell Coca-Cola for $50. Now Coca-Cola is produced and drunk in 200 countries around the world.

Cookies with chocolate chips

One of the most popular types of cookies in the United States are chocolate chip cookies. It was invented in the 1930s when Ruth Wakefield, an innkeeper, decided to bake butter cookies. The woman broke the chocolate bar and mixed the pieces of chocolate with the dough, hoping that the chocolate would melt and give the dough Brown color and chocolate flavor. However, Wakefield's ignorance of the laws of physics let her down, and she pulled chocolate chip cookies out of the oven.

sticky notes

Adhesive papers appeared as a result of an unsuccessful experiment to increase the resistance of glue. In 1968 an employee research laboratory 3M tried to improve the quality of duct tape. He received a dense glue that was not absorbed into the surfaces to be glued and was completely useless for the production of adhesive tape. The researcher didn't know how to use the new kind of glue. Four years later, his colleague, who free time sang in the church choir, was annoyed that the bookmarks in the book of psalms fell out all the time. Then he remembered about the glue, which could fix paper bookmarks without damaging the pages of the book. In 1980, Post-it Notes were first released for sale.

In 1844, inventor Charles Goodyear accidentally discovered a recipe for making rubber that does not soften in the heat and does not become brittle in the cold. New technology called vulcanization. Goodyear, after many years of unsuccessfully trying to improve the quality of rubber, at that time an extremely capricious and inconvenient material, one day accidentally heated a mixture of rubber and sulfur on a kitchen stove. The discovery of the rubber vulcanization process was the impetus for the development of the electrical industry, since rubber is an excellent insulating material. Goodyear's invention made the modern automobile possible.

pacemaker

This device, which saves the lives of millions of people suffering from heart disease, was invented by accident. In 1941, engineer John Hopps commissioned navy conducted research in the field of hypothermia. He was tasked with finding a way to quickly warm a person who had been in the cold or in cold water for a long time. Hopps tried to use high-frequency radio waves for warming up and accidentally discovered that a heart that had stopped beating as a result of hypothermia could be "started" again if it was stimulated with electrical impulses. In 1950, based on the discovery of Hopps, the first pacemaker was created. It was large and uncomfortable, its use sometimes led to burns on the patient's body. The medic Wilson Greatbatch made a second accidental discovery. He worked on the creation of a device that was supposed to record heart rate. One day, he accidentally inserted the wrong resistor into the device and noticed that in electrical circuit fluctuations arose, reminiscent of the rhythm of the human heart. Two years later, Greatbatch created the first implantable pacemaker that delivers artificial impulses to stimulate the heart.

Antibiotics

In 1928 scientist Alexander Fleming noticed that the mold penicillin had infected one of his specimens with pathogenic staphylococcus bacteria left by the open window. Fleming examined the sample under a microscope and noticed that the mold killed the bacteria. The importance of Fleming's discovery became clear only in 1940, when mass research began on a new type of antibiotic drugs in the world. Nowadays, antibiotics are extremely widely used in medicine, they account for up to 15% of all medicines sold in the world.

Supermarket Trolley

Merchant Sylvan Goldman invented the first shopping cart in 1936. Goldman owned a large grocery store in Oklahoma City and noticed that customers were reluctant to buy certain items because they were too heavy to carry. The discovery was accidental: Goldman noticed how one customer placed a heavy bag on a toy car that her son was rolling on a string. The merchant first attached small wheels to an ordinary basket, and then attracted mechanics to help and created a prototype of a modern cart. The mass production of this device began in 1947. The invention of the cart made it possible to create the new kind shop - supermarket.

Garbage bag

Harry Vasilyuk invented the first garbage bag in 1950. Vasilyuk was an inventor and engineer, and once the municipality of the city approached him, which set the task: to make sure that household waste does not spill out during the loading of garbage collection machines. Vasilyuk thought for a long time about creating a semblance of a vacuum cleaner, but the decision came suddenly. One of his friends or family (versions differ) threw the phrase: “I need a trash bag!”. Vasilyuk realized that disposable bags should be used for garbage operations and suggested making them from polyethylene. The first to use plastic garbage bags was the Winnipeg City Hospital. The first trash bags designed for individuals appeared in the 1960s. Now one of critical issues to be addressed by mankind is the disposal of garbage.

Microwave

The well-known researcher Percy Spencer, who received more than 120 patents for inventions, an employee of one of the largest companies in the global military-industrial complex Raytheon, accidentally became the creator of microwave oven. In 1945, shortly before the end of World War II, he was conducting research aimed at improving the quality of radar. At the time of the experiment, Spencer walked in front of a working emitter and found that the chocolate bar in his pocket had melted. After a series of experiments, the first microwave oven was created, which weighed about 400 kg. It was supposed to be used in restaurants, airplanes and ships - where it was necessary to quickly heat up food.

Between brilliant innovation and engineering failure, there is a very a fine line. Many of the in-demand and popular products that are used almost everywhere today came about through some kind of accident, accident or mistake. Our review contains just such “random” inventions.

1. Penicillin

Biologist Alexander Fleming was in such a hurry to rest that he left a pile of dirty petri dishes dumped in the sink in his laboratory. When he returned from vacation on September 3, 1928, he noticed a cup with a culture of staphylococcus - it turned out that it was all covered with colonies of bacteria, with the exception of one place where there was a piece of mold. So, quite by accident, he learned that penicillin can kill bacteria. Thanks to slovenliness, people have received one of the most widely used antibiotics.

2. Slinky

Naval engineer Richard James was trying to develop a spring in 1943 to stabilize fragile equipment on ships. One day, James accidentally knocked one of his new springs off the shelf and was surprised to find that the spring "walked" on the floor. He took it home to show it to his wife, Betty, who decided to make a toy out of the spring. The Slinky was first shown in front of the Gimbels department store in Philadelphia in 1945 on Christmas Eve. Considering that a whole crowd of people had gathered, the married couple decided to make Slinks for sale.

3. Dry breakfast cereals

The legend behind the creation of these famous breakfast cereals dates back to 1922, when a bumbling cook at Washburn Crosby was making bran porridge and accidentally spilled it on a hot stove. Drops of porridge hissed and curled into flakes. When the chef tasted them, it turned out that the flakes are much tastier than the original porridge. The chef got a seat on the Washburn board of directors, and over the following years, 36 different varieties of porridge were tried to create the perfect cereal.

4. Stickers

Today, stickers have become so commonplace that no one ever wonders where they came from. In fact, Spencer Silver was trying to develop a super-strong adhesive for 3M laboratories in 1968 and accidentally invented the exact opposite: an adhesive that would stick to just about anything but just as easily come off. Silver spent five years trying to "promote" his invention in 3M, but no one knew what could be done with it.

In 1974, a colleague named Art Fry finally found a use for glue. He sang in the church choir, and in the psalter he made bookmarks from ordinary pieces of paper, which often fell out. Now the bookmarks began to stick to the pages, and they did not leave marks on the pages and could be easily torn off. 3M finally agreed to release the stickers in 1980.

5. Lilac color

In 1856, 18-year-old chemist prodigy William Perkin invented a synthetic dye and was about to start developing a cancer-fighting drug. Only in fact, the dye was supposed to be a completely different substance. Perkin was working on an artificial version of quinine, a cure for malaria. Instead, his experiments resulted in a dark, oily, light purple precipitate that was brighter than any dye on the market. Up to this point, dyes were mostly made from insects, shellfish, or plant material.

6. Plastic

Now it is difficult to imagine that earlier water was carried in vessels made of clay. The legend of the discovery of plastic says that if not for two accidental discovery, then until now the bottles would have been glass or clay.

The first story begins in a laboratory where Charles Goodyear (the founder of Goodyear) accidentally left a sample of rubber and sulfur on a stove. When he returned, he found a hard and durable material. This is how vulcanization was invented.

The second incident occurred at John Wesley Hyatt's store. Following the announcement of a $10,000 competition to find an alternative Ivory material in billiard balls, Hyatt accidentally spilled a bottle of collodion during his experiments. When the substance dried, he found that a flexible and durable material had formed. This is how celluloid was invented.

7. Saccharin

Chemist Konstantin Fahlberg experimented in his laboratory in 1879, trying to find a new use for coal tar. The work interested him so much that he forgot about his dinner, and then went home without washing his hands. When he broke off a piece of bread at home, he found that it was too sweet. When he rinsed his mouth, wiped his mustache with a napkin and applied it to his lips, it turned out that the napkin was also sweet. The scientist rushed back to the laboratory and found a sample that contained a new substance - saccharin.

8. Corn flakes

Dr. John Kellogg and his brother Keith owned a sanitarium in Battle Creek in 1894. One day, two brothers were making a dish of cornmeal, but the dough curdled and became lumpy. No one will ever know why, but they decided to fry these rolled up dough flakes, and it turned out to be a nice crunchy dish. These flakes were offered to the patients of the sanatorium, where they began to be wildly popular.

9. Pacemaker

Wilson Greatbatch committed classic mistake Pulled the wrong item out of the box. Thus, a device was born that saved the lives of millions of people. In 1956, Greatbatch worked on an animal heart rate recorder at the University of Buffalo. He reached into his desk drawer and took out a resistor of the wrong size, connecting it to the circuit. When the scientist turned on the device, he heard a rhythmic sound that resembled the beating of a human heart. Today, more than half a million pacemakers are implanted each year.

In continuation of the topic. Perhaps some of our readers for complete happiness something is missing from this list.

To come up with it and apply it, one must have an adventurous character. And the great joker-mystifier Wood did possess it. Now you will be convinced of it.

While in Germany, the American scientist Robert Wood often arranged various, so to speak, fools and swindles. He made one such prank in the elevated Berlin underground, in the trains of which there were cars of the first, second and third classes. According to Wood, only princes, millionaires and fools traveled in the first class. He himself traveled on a green second-class seasonal ticket.

American physicist Robert Wood had a very original sense of humor. In my notes, I have repeatedly talked about it. Many of Wood's jokes were related to chemical experiments and unexpected explosions. I'll bring a couple more interesting examples about draws this versatile person.

Not only joke explosions fascinated the young scientist Robert Wood. He was also very fond of all kinds of hoaxes. Including literary and journalistic.

One day, at the age of 19, he wrote an article for a Chicago newspaper Tribune. On July 23, 1887, a note appeared in it entitled "Messenger from the Stars", which, figuratively speaking, blew up the entire information field of the northern states of America. The entire circulation of the newspaper was sold out in a matter of hours ...

The topic of the latest issue of the TV magazine is historical tales about great scientists. You will learn: how the physicist and mathematician André-Marie Ampère could not calculate the cost of an overnight stay for a long time; why envious ill-wishers never learned the secrets of the mastery of the chemist Jöns Berzelius; about the main disadvantage of an unusual wine thermometer Galileo Galilei; how British physicist William Thomson responded to his students' joke; about the explosive pranks of the boy Robbie Wood; how a vigilant firefighter stopped the flammable actions of the famous experimental physicist; about wise formula happiness from Albert Einstein; what great discoveries were made by the quiet and modest twice Nobel laureate John Bardeen; how academician Pyotr Kapitsa very wittily defined the difference between scientific schools Bora and Landau.

Once a famous Danish theoretical physicist Niels Bohr performed at the Soviet FIAN (Physical Institute of the Academy of Sciences). And there he was asked how he managed to create a well-known in everything scientific world first-class school of physics. To which Niels Bohr replied:- Apparently, because I never hesitated to admit to my students that I am a fool.

It was said on English language. Bor was translated by our scientist Yevgeny Lifshits. And he translated the piquant phrase about a fool scientist (a Nobel laureate, by the way) in his own way. Did it like this:- Apparently, because I never hesitated to tell my students that THEY are fools...

This story is about the extraordinary human modesty of the great scientist John Bardeen. You know this name - John Bardeen?... Well, how come, haven't you heard!?... But this unique person, who entered the history of science by becoming the only scientist in the world who received TWO (!!!) Nobel Prizes in physics. John Bardeen was so modest that today only people involved in electronics and radio engineering know his name. So, a few words about the simplicity of a great man.

John Bardeen, an American physicist and electrical engineer, was a very calm, slightly insecure person with a soft and quiet voice. So quiet that students who attended his lectures at the University of Illinois called him Whispering John.

In 1922 Albert Einstein was in Tokyo, where he gave a course of lectures. One day to his hotel room "Imperial" a messenger arrived with a congratulatory telegram. There was good news - a message about the award to a scientist Nobel Prize. Einstein, naturally, was delighted and decided to thank the courier. But it is not customary to give a tip in Japan, and the messenger refused the offered money according to a long-standing national tradition.

Then Einstein asked for two hotel forms, quickly wrote a few phrases on them and handed the sheets to the courier with the words that someday they would cost much more than any, even the most generous tip ...

Each of us has seen how in the rays of ultraviolet usually invisible signs and inscriptions on banknotes, passports, diplomas and other important documents light up with a bright light. So, the technique for detecting various forgeries, corrections and erased inscriptions using ultraviolet rays was developed Robert Wood back in 1906.

Once, while in London, Wood visited Office of the Chief Censor of Great Britain. Employees of the secret department spoke about their methods for finding traces of cryptography, and Wood, in response, proved to them the advantages of ultraviolet radiation for identifying fake documents.

Once an American scientist, an outstanding experimental physicist Robert Wood gave a lecture at the Philadelphia Forum on the topic "Flame». He turned the venerable tribune of the Academy into a real Vesuvius! During the performance, Wood worked incredible, downright fakir miracles: he demonstrated entire “canvases” of flame; burned acetylene torches; made it rain white-hot drops of molten steel; delighted the audience with huge pipes of blue fire, which whistled and howled, and then exploded spectacularly. Reflections of explosions and fire were reflected in a wide open eyes surprised audience. And thick smoke rose to the ceiling...

Unique American scientist Robert Wood known for being from young years loved to play with explosives. He arranged with their help all sorts of jokes and practical jokes. Sometimes very risky.

So, for example, once in his childhood, this restless tomboy prepared 20 pounds of a composition from a mixture of bertolet salt and sulfur. This explosive compound explodes from a strong and sharp blow. In order to arrange an undermining, two imps: Robbie Wood and his cousin Bradley Davis, hung a heavy iron weight to a height of three meters and dropped it onto an old anvil. On the surface of which was scattered Berthollet salt and sulfur...

An outstanding British scientist (physicist and mechanic) William Thomson (aka Baron, Lord and Sir Kelvin) for a long time headed the Department of Theoretical Physics at the University of the Scottish city of Glasgow. One day he canceled his lecture and wrote on the blackboard: "Professor Tomson will not meet his classes today". It can be translated like this: "Professor Thomson will not be able to conduct his classes today".

The students were very happy about the cancellation of a boring lecture on thermodynamics and decided to play a trick on their professor. They erased the first letter in the word "classes" … and it turned out "lasses" . After that, the ad sparkled with new colors, spicy and: "Professor Thomson will not be able to meet his mistresses» ... Only one letter is missing! But how the meaning of the whole phrase has changed!

Do you think this is all a play on words? ... No! ... For William Thomson was a man with good feeling humor.

Some discoveries are made by accident and without special efforts

There are discoveries that researchers have been poring over for years, or even decades. And some are done randomly and without much effort. These latter will be discussed below:

Sir Fleming (1881 - 1955) - British bacteriologist. Discovered lysozyme (an antibacterial enzyme produced by human body) and was the first to isolate penicillin from mold fungi Penicillium notatum is historically the first antibiotic. (iwm.org.uk)

21 Penicillin

A breakthrough in medicine - penicillin was accidentally discovered by Scottish biologist Alexander Fleming (pictured above), when he returned from vacation, he noticed that the bacteria were killed by an unknown strain of the fungus.

20 Microwave radiation

One day, Percy Spencer, an engineer working for Raytheon, noticed that a chocolate bar in his pocket had melted after he passed in front of a magnetron (a microwave-generating vacuum tube). A few years later, he put his observation into practice by giving the world the microwave oven.

19 Velcro fasteners

The sticky properties of burdock prompted the Swiss engineer Georges de Mestral in 1941 to create a textile fastener that operates on a similar principle. Having examined under a microscope the burdock flowers, consisting of microhooks, all that remained for him was to make the second half of the Velcro - microloops.

18 Teflon

In an attempt to replace the then dangerous refrigerants in refrigerators with something more suitable and less dangerous, DuPont scientist Roy Plunket invented a surface resistant to high temperatures and chemistry - Teflon.

17 Vulcanized rubber

In the 30s of the 19th century, the inability of rubber to resist extreme temperatures forced many to completely write off this material. However, Charles Goodyear did not give up hope to create a new rubber. And his own clumsiness helped him in this: he simply dropped the sample on the stove and, lo and behold, it did not catch fire.

16 Coca Cola

John Pemberton was not a businessman. He just wanted to find a cure for migraines. The recipe was simple: coca leaves and cola nuts. But his assistant accidentally mixed the two ingredients into soda, and Coca-Cola was born.

15 Radioactivity

In 1896, French scientist Henri Bechrel worked on an experiment where an enriched uranium crystal burned an image onto a photographic plate using sunlight... at least he thought so then. One cloudy day, he decided to postpone the experiment until better weather, and put everything he needed in a chest of drawers. A few days later, Henri discovered that the uranium crystal was still emitting rays and "clouded" the plate with them.

14 Corn flakes

Keith Kellogg helped his brother, who worked at the Battle Creek Sanitarium. One day, while preparing bread from cornmeal, they had to leave. The dough was spoiled and with lumps, but they still decided to bake bread from it. Those same lumps turned out to be crispy and became a real hit among the patients of the sanatorium.

13 Saccharin

Konstantin Fahlberg, a scientist at Johns Hopkins University, accidentally took some of the components of the experiment home. At dinner, he noticed that the bread was unusually sweet, despite the fact that it did not contain sugar. Then Fahlberg guessed that it was bread from the laboratory.

12 Pacemaker

Wilson Greatbatch, while developing an animal heart recorder at Cornell University, took the wrong transistor by mistake. Turning on the device, he realized that the impulses emitted by it are very reminiscent of the rhythm of the beating of a human heart.

11 Modern anesthesia

For a long time, alcohol was the most famous and preferred anesthesia by physicians. But in the early 19th century, doctors discovered that ether and nitrous oxide (laughing gas) temporarily relieved pain.

10 Gum for hands

During World War II, while trying to create a replacement for synthetic rubber, James Wright accidentally spilled boric acid into silicone oil. The result was a strange, lingering substance with no obvious uses. In 1950, Peter Hodgson saw in this strange polymer the potential of a children's toy, better known in America as Silly Putty.

9 Slinky spring

In 1943, engineer Richard James, who served in the Navy, was trying to develop a spring that would be able to stabilize sensitive instruments on ships. When it accidentally dropped one of its springs and began to "walk", Richard had the idea for a wonderful Slinky toy.

8 Potato chips

Chef George Crum invented the potato chip in 1853 to spite one of his demanding customers. When once again this discerning customer sent back fried potatoes to him with the wording "not crispy enough", George Krum cut the potatoes as thinly as he could, fried in oil and well salted. This is how potato chips were born.

7 Fireworks

It's no secret that fireworks were invented about 2,000 years ago in China. According to legend, accidentally mixed charcoal, sulfur and saltpeter in a bamboo tube gave such a beautiful effect.

6 Soft plasticine Play-Do

Plasticine was invented quite by accident in 1955 by Joseph and Noah McVicker in a vain attempt to make a wallpaper cleaner. Later, Rainbow Craft began to produce such plasticine as a children's educational toy.

5 superglue

In 1942, Dr. Harry Coover came to the regretful conclusion that cyanoacrylate, his discovery, was useless. This substance firmly stuck to everything it touched.

4 Chocolate chip cookies

It is said that the owner of the restaurant home cooking Tall House Inn Mrs. Wakefield was making chocolate chip cookies when she suddenly ran out of cocoa powder. She replaced it with regular chocolate chunks, naively believing they would melt and mix into the dough. And it's good that she was wrong.

3 Fruit ice

In 1905, 11-year-old Frank Ipperson left his soda cup on the porch. The night was cold, the temperature below zero did its job. After 2 decades, fruit ice became known to many people.

2 Stainless steel

Metallurgists have been wondering for thousands of years what to add to an alloy of steel to make it resistant to rust. Many years have passed in the search with varying success. And in 1922, Harry Brearley in experiments noticed that one of the samples had not lost its brilliance. The same sample of steel alloy with chromium.

1 Plastic

In 1907, Belgian chemist Leo Baekeland set out to find a replacement for shellac. Experimenting with formaldehyde, phenol, their heating temperature and mixing them with wood flour, asbestos, shale dust, he invented plastic - a plastic material, at the same time quite hard, heat-resistant. The very name "plastic" came later, but we're willing to bet there's something made out of it right next to you at arm's length.

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