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85 Comments
- capn_caveman, on 10/12/2007, -1/+27I think penicillin should top this list. How many lives has that stuff saved?
- scotty2012, on 10/12/2007, -3/+17LSD to induce child birth? I would not want to be in that room.
- ajmuir, on 10/12/2007, -2/+15What about the Post-It?
I hear that was discovered accidentally when a glue manufacture thought a batch had gone wrong. The faulty glue was then replicated onto the back on square sheets of yellow paper, forming perfect sticky notes un-harming to the stuff they stick to. Thank you 3M! - mistergosh, on 10/12/2007, -0/+9That probably sliped off the list.
- The_Decryptor, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6Yes, but how many nights has viagra saved?
- vuzman, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6Artificial sweeteners is a "Best Accidental Discovery"?
Well, I guess only *some* artificial sweeteners have been proven to be carcinogenic...
http://europa.eu.int/comm/food/fs/sc/scf/out53_en.pdf - Deuterium, on 10/12/2007, -5/+9Goodyear did not accidentally discover vulcanized rubber. He had been trying for years to perfect the process. He even knew that it would involve sulfur and heat. The key was the proportion and the amount of heat. Wired needs to check their facts. They are 100% WRONG!
- kaniz, on 10/12/2007, -3/+7Pretty cool to see LSD on the list. No, they didn't make LSD to induce child birth. LSD is derived from Ergot, Ergot can cause contractions in pregnant people, and they were looking at a way of using it to aid in child birth.
It was a complete fluke that LSD just happened to end up being a very powerful drug :) However, LSD itself was never used as an aid for child birth.
That being said, pregant people should not take LSD, or LSA - as it can cause a miscarraige. Or, I guess if your about to actually give bith - cause contractions to aid in giving birth.
But yay for LSD :) When I saw the title I thought to myself "LSD better be on that list", and it was. - ditoa, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Agreed. Penicillin is probably one of the most important scientific discoveries in human histroy.
- alabare, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5Was surprised to hear Viagra was not a purposeful invention. Interesting.
- ditoa, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Adding too the story... I remember being told that a person from 3M was originally looking for a "sticky bookmark" for his hymm book so he could get to the common hymm's quicker. He spoke with another person at 3M who had worked on the not as stick as glue material (apparently they were looking for a superglue type glue at the time) and the postit was invented!
- kazem, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4Teflon was discovered accidentally.
- shiftless, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I think when people say they discovered something by accident, they're just being modest. All of these inventions were created by very smart people. Even though they may not have fully understood what they created at first, I don't think they fully count as being accidental!
- bryantee, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Yeah, the story is actually pretty interesting, I remember reading part of it online somewhere.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0966001982/ref=wl_itt_dp/104-4900421-7498303?%5Fencoding=UTF8&colid=366591QU5BVFM&coliid=I1EY3UFPR0LAJE&v=glance&n=283155 - illu45, on 10/12/2007, -4/+6Yeah, the LSD thing seems weird... The X-ray story is good, too.
- duke, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Super glue (cyanoacrylate ester).
http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/msuperglue.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyanoacrylate#History - revenant, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4I could imagine a rainbow coming out of the... erm.. "birthing zone" and finding Jerry Garcia at the other end. ;)
- sunnyd, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3that's true, the story goes something like a shop worker getting a small piece of glass in his eye that made a small wound in his cornea, and when the eye recovered his vision was significantly improved
- vuzman, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2The correct spelling would be "Röntgen"
- sporktek, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Eeh, don't worry. Next week Wired will run the "top 10 things reverse engineered in Asia" story and all will be set right.
- lacour1234, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Don't forget the 3m Post-It note.
- XxAMISHxX, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1forgot chocot chip cookies... bastards!
- Leonaken, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I was right, Coke was an accident to some extent.
"When he was a druggist and chemist in Columbus, John began work on a coca and cola (kola) nut beverage. It was intended to stop headaches and calm nervousness. He created the formula in a brass kettle in his backyard. He succeeded in making the formula, and went down to the pharmacy. He instructed his assistant, Venable, to mix it with ice water and chill it. They drank it, and both loved it. But then Venable accidentally mixed it with carbonated water. They decided to sell it as a fountain drink, as an alternative for root beer and ginger ale. Frank Mason Robertson suggested that they name it Coca Cola for the Coca leaves and Kola (cola) nuts in it."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Pemberton - borderpatrol, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Stainless steel was an accident. A gun smith messed up and put the metal aside, a week later he noticed it had not rusted...
- Nobi-Wan, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3They forgot corn flakes. That was accidental, too but I guess not a "top 10." Pretty cool list.
- Offill, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Not enough background, but interesting nevertheless.
- sabbac, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3they also forgot Ivory soap and the float ability of it.
- Skrolnik, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2No Chocolate Chip Cookie?
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3Teflon is one too.
Story: http://www.mindfully.org/Plastic/Teflon/Teflon-HistoryDuPont.htm - futzy99, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2When I was younger, I had two books with all kinds of stuff like this, called "Accidents Happen Parts 1 & 2". They had most of these ( not LSD or Viagra xD ) along with some other interesting ones, such as chocolate chip cookies.
- Haplo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Lithium as mood stabilizer, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Cade
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I'm surprised not to see champagne here.
- YouKnowMe, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I like that LSD is number 2 of The Best: Accidental Discoveries
- Leonaken, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I remember reading that Coca-Cola was an accident. It was a medicine John Pemberton had concocted, but accidentally put carbinated water in. According to Wikipedia's entry on Coke, it was intentional, but I dunno.
- judgeFire, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Many things are found when looking for something else. Time spent looking, results in finding something. Kevlar is one more - http://web.mit.edu/invent/iow/kwolek.html
J - dhughes, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1 Only to show since 1853 potato chips have always been consumed by some loud mouthed idiot.
- NeoTechni, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Radiation in general was discovered by accident. A chuck of Radon was put in a drawer with some film, and when the scientist checked the film, it was found to be developed. Even though it was in the dark
- lacour1234, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2How about the Reese's Peanut Butter Cup? Didn't the old commercials show people accidentally bumping into one another and producing one of the most sought after confectionery delights ever to grace this planet?
- lexbaby, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I thought Post-It notes was a failed attempt at a residue-less glue for the military. The problem was that the glue wasn't strong enough.
- alphanerd, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Here is the correct information on LCD it is derived from a fungus which was used to induce abortions.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ergot - Vulpes, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Um, thats more of a advertisement than a accidental discovery article
- dielawn, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1????lsd was accidentally made when trying to find a "truth serum", not anything with birth.
- echimu, on 10/12/2007, -4/+4yummy @Potato chips :)
- Corona, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0http://digg.com/search?search=patient+reports&submit=Submit
- dave_colorado, on 10/12/2007, -7/+7the french fries is a cool one. although it doesn't qualify as a "discovery" per se. you discover something that occurs naturally. otherwise it's an invention. so, lots of these seem to be mixed together.
- daRoach, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1lmao @ lacour
- Solol, on 10/12/2007, -6/+6You provide no example of discovery which should have made the top 10, if the "bias" hadn't been there => useless rant
- apatel17, on 10/11/2007, -0/+0One of the top has got to be Columbus discovering America while trying to find a better route to India.
- ScrabbyDoo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I'm sure caveman didn't actively sought out to harness fire, although not technically inventing it.
When you talk about Top 10 and the impact it had on human history, I'm sure you can find better things then those on the list ( eg silly putty or potato chips). - alphanerd, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1He is write LCD does come from ergo which is a fungus that grows on rye. It explains lots of the halucinations during the salem witch trials i.e I saw her burst into flames.
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