Famous Accidental Discoveries Throughout History [Infographic]

Vincent Nero https://getvoip.com 1m 330 #accidents

The views of this article are the perspective of the author and may not be reflective of Confessions of the Professions.

Accidental Discoveries In History

Throughout human history, there have been some fundamental innovations which have truly changed the course of history. Although the saying “necessity is the mother of invention” rings true in many cases, there are also a number of times when profound discoveries have been made by sheer accident.

Not all discoveries have been made by pure chance as creators have often been performing experiments in a related area. However, there have been some truly freak occurrences leading to significant discoveries which could never have been planned like the story of how safety glass was invented.

Some interesting discoveries

The ability to perform x-ray scans has transformed the medical world – did you know that the x-ray was accidentally discovered when a scientist experimenting with cathode rays found that a piece of fluorescent cardboard lit up behind a thick screen.

One of the most comical entries on our list is the tale of how safety glass was discovered by artist and chemist Edouard Benedictus. The artist accidentally knocked a flask off the table and, to his great surprise, found that the flask did not shatter as expected. Upon further inspection, Benedictus realized that plastic cellulose nitrate has coated the flask which led to cracking rather than shattering.

Read Another Confession: What to Do When You Run Out of Fuel? [Infographic]

Day-to-day changing discoveries

There are a number of everyday discoveries which have changed the way people lead their lives. Perhaps the most widespread household appliance which was discovered accidentally is the microwave which saves people a lot of time and effort. The microwave accidentally came about when an engineer repairing a radar station found that a chocolate bar in his pocket had melted. Even the life-saving pacemaker which has improved living conditions for millions around the world came about by accident when a scientist pulled out the wrong kind of resistor, showing just how whimsical fate and chance can be. In this visual from GetVoip are 12 of the most famous innovations that were discovered accidentally.