I’ve often wondered, from a ‘secular’ perspective (“Faith is a gift I have yet to receive”, to borrow the words of Tom Hanks in Angels & Demons), what if Jesus had never gained a following? No Catholic or Protestant churches would exist…and would the world be a better or worse place??? More violent acts have been done in the name of God than every other cause combined!
I’ve also wondered what if the Library at Alexandria and much of the ancient world’s collective knowledge, had never been destroyed?
What if every bit of knowledge in the Secret Archives at the Vatican was known and available to the world?
nm
stuff covered already.
Trust me, that would suck too.
Anyone interested in accidental discoveries changing history might want to check out a book called Napoleon’s Buttons about how specific molecules have impacted human history.
Roald Dahl was asked by C.S. Forrester to write up his experiences as an RAF fighter so he (Forrester) could make a story from the notes for the Saturday Evening Post. Dahl did so, had them typed up, mailed them off and forgot about it.
Two weeks later he got a letter from Forrester stating: I asked you for notes, not a finished story. Did you know you are a gifted writer? I didn’t change a thing, but submitted it to my agent, who sold it to the Saturday Evening Post for $1,000. He took his 10%, and enclosed is a check for $900.
Dahl’s first thought was “it can’t be that easy.” And I add “Easy only if your name is Roald Dahl.”
I’m not sure how much it changed history, but the Microwave Oven was invented after a self-taught engineer named Percy Spencer was doing some experiments for Raytheon and discovered that the microwaves emitted from his tests had melted a bar of chocolate in his pocket.
In the same vein, it certainly didn’t change the world, but a chance discovery, Latisse, a topical treatment to grow longer eyelashes, was originally (and still is) used as eyedrops to treat glaucoma, when they noticed the patients getting unusually long lashes. 
Nitrocellulosewas discovered by accident.
Same with Viagra.
Although, to be honest, I can’t think of any great historical paradigm-changing moment that came about due to hairy men with boners.
Well obviously you haven’t heard the story of Robin Williams and Margaret Thatcher! 
Does anyone else find the phrase “changed history” a bit odd? Unless you discover time travel, how are you going to change what already happened?
‘Changed the world’ makes sense, but how does somebody or something ‘change history’?
If the Spitfire and Turing’s computer hadn’t been invented, WW2 would probably have been won by the Germans. Pretty fortunate then, that those 2 people just happened to be around then!
Henry 8th was pretty hairy and his desire to have a boner with Bolyn brought about the Anglican church and the split with Rome. Pretty historical paradigm-changing event that.
Sigh… “natural” does not mean “good for you”. “Artificial” does not mean “bad for you”. Many of the most toxic compounds known to man are 100% natural.
I know, all those chemicals are evil. C7H5NO3S, C14H18N2O5, etc. I mean crap, they’re almost as bad as C12H22O11.
Not to mention sodium chloride and dihydrogen monoxide. Avoid those at all costs. Ricin, on the other hand, is completely natural.
And “artificial” foods are subject to far more scrutiny and safety testing than natural ones ever were. From a statistical standpoint, you’d be much better off eating an entirely artificial diet than an entirely natural one, all else being equal.
Pesticides are a particular favorite: yes, they’re dangerous, to farmers, agricultural workers, and other people with access to the fields. But lots of professions work with dangerous materials and produce safe products: it’s extremely difficult to find a reliable claim of any end consumer ever being harmed by a pesticide on/in their food.
My contribution to the OP is the glue that’s used on post-it notes. 3M legend has it that it was a “failure,” meant to produce a much stronger glue, and was only seen as a product when someone noticed the secretaries were using the very low-adhesive glue it to temporarily stick notes on things. I’m not sure how much the Post-It note “changed history,” though.
Nachos, Chop Suet, and a few other dishes/snacks were invented by throwing together whatever leftover ingredients were on hand and serving it to gullible Americans. Seems the formula for making a popular American snack/appetizer/dessert involves:
- Hungry Americans
- Random ingredients thrown together
- Fake ethic origin
- ???
- Profit!
Not for nachos. The inventor was Mexican. “Nacho” is a nickname for Ignacio.
True, but like chop suet, fortune cookies, etc they were invented in America and passed off as authentic ethic food to hungry American customers.