# Whoops! Inventions. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 6, 2005, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoops-inventions/329821 "2005-11-06T21:32:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MessyPaint](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8baadc/32.png) [@MessyPaint](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MessyPaint)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2005, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoops-inventions/329821/1 "2005-11-06T21:32:29Z")
What are some of the inventions discovered completey by accident? ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2005, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoops-inventions/329821/2 "2005-11-06T21:33:05Z")
Sillt Putty. Seriously! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2005, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoops-inventions/329821/3 "2005-11-06T21:33:57Z")
Vulcanized rubber. Goodyear was working on the process, but the combination that worked was pretty much accidental. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2005, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoops-inventions/329821/4 "2005-11-06T21:34:19Z")
I meant “Silly Putty”. ---
**Author:** ![MessyPaint](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8baadc/32.png) [@MessyPaint](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MessyPaint)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2005, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoops-inventions/329821/5 "2005-11-06T21:34:25Z")
> [@Bosda Di'Chi of Tricor](#): > > Sillt Putty. > > Seriously! > > 🙂 the irony 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2005, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoops-inventions/329821/6 "2005-11-06T22:01:24Z")
Cyanoacrylate adhesive (super/krazy glue) was the result of a failed experiment to produce either artificial spider silk or clear plastic lenses (sources differ on the detail). This sort of thing would appear to be quite commonly true of invention and discovery, except that the stories of the original discoveries/inventions with which we are so familiar are often romanticised to some degree; for example, there is considerable controversy over the story of Fleming’s accidental discovery of penicillin. ---
**Author:** ![jsmith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df705f/32.png) [@jsmith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsmith)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2005, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoops-inventions/329821/7 "2005-11-06T22:02:03Z")
Teflon. While attempting to make a CFC refrigerant it stuck to the inside of the container and nothing came out. They cut open the container and behold, they had teflon. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2005, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoops-inventions/329821/8 "2005-11-06T22:17:06Z")
[Discovery of the Commercial Processes for Making Calcium Carbide and Acetylene](http://dwb.unl.edu/Teacher/NSF/C09/C09Links/www.acs.org/landmarks/calcium/) > [@](#): > > on May 2, 1892, while searching for an economical process to make aluminum, Canadian inventor Thomas L. Willson (1860-1915) accidentally discovered the electric-arc process for preparing calcium carbide, which reacts with water to form acetylene. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2005, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoops-inventions/329821/9 "2005-11-06T22:21:28Z")
Viagra - developed as a treatment for (I think it was) high blood pressure (or something.) Turned out to have more interesting side effects. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2005, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoops-inventions/329821/10 "2005-11-06T22:22:04Z")
The adhesive used on Post it Notes. Guy invented an adhesive that didn’t stick very well and went looking for an application to use it on. [Here is a good page about the troubles that were encountered trying to find a use for this stuff.](http://www.3m.com/about3m/pioneers/fry.jhtml) ---
**Author:** ![MessyPaint](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8baadc/32.png) [@MessyPaint](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MessyPaint)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2005, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoops-inventions/329821/11 "2005-11-06T22:22:41Z")
> [@Squink](#): > > [Discovery of the Commercial Processes for Making Calcium Carbide and Acetylene](http://dwb.unl.edu/Teacher/NSF/C09/C09Links/www.acs.org/landmarks/calcium/) interesting… he discovered a “process” ---
**Author:** ![TygerDralion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e19adc/32.png) [@TygerDralion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TygerDralion)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2005, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoops-inventions/329821/12 "2005-11-06T22:33:27Z")
> [@Peter Morris](#): > > Viagra - developed as a treatment for (I think it was) high blood pressure (or something.) Turned out to have more interesting side effects. Actually, they’re just now starting to market it as such. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2005, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoops-inventions/329821/13 "2005-11-06T22:38:20Z")
It is my understanding that the original process of developing sharp, long-lasting photographs was accidentally discovered by Louis Daguerre. Plates he placed in a particular cabinet developed very strong and dark images; he eventually figured out that the excellent developing was the result of mercury vapors present due to an earlier chemical spill in the same cabinet. ---
**Author:** ![Tevildo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Tevildo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tevildo)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2005, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoops-inventions/329821/14 "2005-11-06T22:41:16Z")
Newcomen’s original steam engine. The first design attempted to use steam pressure to force up the piston. At the top of the stroke, the cylinder sprung a leak. The steam condensed, forming a vacuum, which pulled the piston violently into the cylinder, breaking the boiler. Newcomen, impressed by the force developed, changed the design so that this happened on every stroke. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2005, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoops-inventions/329821/15 "2005-11-06T22:49:43Z")
> [@Tevildo](#): > > Newcomen, impressed by the force developed, changed the design so that this happened on every stroke. Wasn’t that kind of hard on the old boiler repairman? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2005, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoops-inventions/329821/16 "2005-11-06T23:06:48Z")
> [@Peter Morris](#): > > Viagra - developed as a treatment for (I think it was) high blood pressure (or something.) Turned out to have more interesting side effects. I think Minoxidil (Rogaine) was also a blood pressure medication with an interesting side effect (hair growth in this case). ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2005, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoops-inventions/329821/17 "2005-11-06T23:07:07Z")
LSD. The telephone to an extent (Bell was working on a way to help the deaf when the application diverged). ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2005, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoops-inventions/329821/18 "2005-11-06T23:17:17Z")
There’s a whole book about this: “Serendipity: Accidental Discoveries in Science”. See [http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0471602035/102-1836977-7184132?v=glance](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0471602035/102-1836977-7184132?v=glance) ---
**Author:** ![ltfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@ltfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ltfire)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2005, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoops-inventions/329821/19 "2005-11-07T00:44:15Z")
The ‘Slinky’. [http://home.messiah.edu/~barrett/slinky/history.htm](http://home.messiah.edu/~barrett/slinky/history.htm) ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2005, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoops-inventions/329821/20 "2005-11-07T02:54:13Z")
> [@Rick](#): > > The adhesive used on Post it Notes. Guy invented an adhesive that didn’t stick very well and went looking for an application to use it on. Note that 3M likes a good PR story as well as anybody, but some key info that would indicate that it was far less than luck was left out. PBS had an invention show waaay back and they interviewed the inventors. They had an adhesive _category_ that displayed a range of properties. They noticed that at one point on the curve, the adhesive might be strong enough to support paper but not too strong that it would tear paper when removed. Experiments proved it. Serendipity had no more to do with it than any other advancement in Science. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoops-inventions/329821.md?page=2)