Still in awe of good things that happen as “accidents” and my fascination with the way the universe arranges things to happen, I collected some interesting stuff that was created by “lucky coincidence”, enjoy:
- “And we owe our health to PENICILIN”: In 1928 an untidy Scottish biologist and pharmacologist named Alexander Fleming came back to his laboratory after spending August on Holiday with his family. Before he left he had been doing some research on staphylococci and he had left his cultures in his laboratory. On his return he discovered a mold that had grown in one of the cultures, this mold produced a substance able to kill bacteria and was named Penicillin. It was released March 7th, 1929 and has been used to cure several bacterial infections such as: syphilis, gangrene and tuberculosis.
- “Accidentally high; LSD”: In 1938 a swiss chemist named Albert Hofmann was trying to obtain a respiratory and circulatory stimulant working on a fungus named Ergot and a Medicinal plant for Sandoz Laboratories (nowadays Novartis). He got LSD for the first time during this year but he set it aside until 5 years later (1943) when he decided to work again on it, this time he accidentally absorbed a small quantity through his fingertips and discovered its powerful effects… I think this guy must have had the greatest job ever, he was actually paid for getting high as he became director of Natural Products Department at Sandoz and had the pleasure of travelling to our beautiful Mexico to try and study “magic mushrooms” and Olioliuhqui seeds among others.
- “The marvellous CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES”: The addictive chocolate cookies were ironically developed by an american dietician named Ruth G. Wakefield. She was trying to make a different kind of dessert named Chocolate drop cookies but she ran out of regular baker’s chocolate and used instead broken pieces of semi-sweet chocolate from Nestlé. The chocolate chip cookies were born and she eventually became business partner of Andrew Nestlé. I think I owe this lady about 40% of my extra fat.
- “And we owe our health to PENICILIN”: In 1928 an untidy Scottish biologist and pharmacologist named Alexander Fleming came back to his laboratory after spending August on Holiday with his family. Before he left he had been doing some research on staphylococci and he had left his cultures in his laboratory. On his return he discovered a mold that had grown in one of the cultures, this mold produced a substance able to kill bacteria and was named Penicillin. It was released March 7th, 1929 and has been used to cure several bacterial infections such as: syphilis, gangrene and tuberculosis.
- “Accidentally high; LSD”: In 1938 a swiss chemist named Albert Hofmann was trying to obtain a respiratory and circulatory stimulant working on a fungus named Ergot and a Medicinal plant for Sandoz Laboratories (nowadays Novartis). He got LSD for the first time during this year but he set it aside until 5 years later (1943) when he decided to work again on it, this time he accidentally absorbed a small quantity through his fingertips and discovered its powerful effects… I think this guy must have had the greatest job ever, he was actually paid for getting high as he became director of Natural Products Department at Sandoz and had the pleasure of travelling to our beautiful Mexico to try and study “magic mushrooms” and Olioliuhqui seeds among others.
- “The marvellous CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES”: The addictive chocolate cookies were ironically developed by an american dietician named Ruth G. Wakefield. She was trying to make a different kind of dessert named Chocolate drop cookies but she ran out of regular baker’s chocolate and used instead broken pieces of semi-sweet chocolate from Nestlé. The chocolate chip cookies were born and she eventually became business partner of Andrew Nestlé. I think I owe this lady about 40% of my extra fat.
- “One of my personal favorites: SILLY PUTTY”; I don’t know if you ever got to play with this as a kid but a guy named James Wright, an american engineer at General Electric during 1943 invented one of my favorite toys by accident. He was actually looking for a substitute of the natural rubber that was used in truck tires and soldiers’ boots during WWII and got a gooey compound instead. He got so disappointed that he took the gob and tossed it onto the floor, it bounced back and 7 years after that a toy seller named Peter Hodgson put it in an egg and presented it at the International Toy Fair in N.Y. the rest is history...
I really hope you enjoyed this short list; there are many other serendipitous developments that you can find following the link below. I could’ve gone on and on but I decided to post only those events that got my attention.
Just to mention some serendipitous events that may catch your attention: Viagra, Cellophane, X rays, Laughing gas, Corn Flakes and Safety glass among others.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serendipity
Just to mention some serendipitous events that may catch your attention: Viagra, Cellophane, X rays, Laughing gas, Corn Flakes and Safety glass among others.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serendipity
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