Things Discovered or Invented by Accident

   We tend to hold inventors in high esteem, but often their discoveries were the result of an accident or twist of fate. This is true of many everyday items, including the following surprise inventions.

In this article, we'll take a look at some of these inventions. Check out the next page for the first discovery in our list.

9. Corn Flakes

   

In 1894, Dr. John Harvey Kellogg was the superintendent of the Battle Creek Sanitarium in Michigan. He and his brother Will Keith Kellogg were Seventh Day Adventists, and they were searching for wholesome foods to feed patients that also complied with the Adventists' strict vegetarian diet. When Will accidentally left some boiled wheat sitting out, it went stale by the time he returned. Rather than throw it away, the brothers sent it through rollers, hoping to make long sheets of dough, but they got flakes instead. They toasted the flakes, which were a big hit with patients, and patented them under the name Granose. The brothers experimented with other grains, including corn, and in 1906, Will created the Kellogg's company to sell the corn flakes. On principle, John refused to join the company because Will lowered the health benefits of the cereal by addingsugar.

8. Microwave Ovens

The microwave oven is now a standard appliance in most American households, but it has only been around since the late 1940s. In 1945, Percy Spencer was experimenting with a new vacuum tube called a magnetron while doing research for the Raytheon Corporation. He was intrigued when the candy bar in his pocket began to melt, so he tried another experiment with popcorn. When it began to pop, Spencer immediately saw the potential in this revolutionary process. In 1947, Raytheon built the first microwave oven, the Radarange, which weighed 750 pounds, was 51/2 feet tall, and cost about $5,000. When the Radarange first became available for home use in the early 1950s, its bulky size and expensive price tag made it unpopular with consumers. But in 1967, a much more popular 100-volt, countertop version was introduced at a price of $495.

7. Silly Putty

It bounces, it stretches, it breaks -- it's Silly Putty, the silicone-based plastic clay marketed as a children's toy by Binney & Smith, Inc. During World War II, while attempting to create a synthetic rubber substitute, James Wright dropped boric acid into silicone oil. The result was a polymerized substance that bounced, but it took several years to find a use for the product. Finally, in 1950, marketing expert Peter Hodgson saw its potential as a toy, renamed it Silly Putty, and a classic toy was born! Not only is it fun, Silly Putty also has practical uses -- it picks up dirt, lint, and pet hair; can stabilize wobbly furniture; and is useful in stress reduction, physical therapy, and in medical and scientific simulations. It was even used by the crew of Apollo 8 to secure tools in zero gravity.

6. Post-it Notes

A Post-it note is a small piece of paper with a strip of low-tack adhesive on the back that allows it to be temporarily attached to documents, walls, computer monitors, and just about anything else. The idea for the Post-it note was conceived in 1974 by Arthur Fry as a way of holding bookmarks in his hymnal while singing in the church choir. He was aware of an adhesive accidentally developed in 1968 by fellow 3M employee Spencer Silver. No application for the lightly sticky stuff was apparent until Fry's idea. The 3M company was initially skeptical about the product's profitability, but in 1980, the product was introduced around the world. Today, Post-it notes are sold in more than 100 countries.

5. Saccharin

Saccharin, the oldest artificial sweetener, was accidentally discovered in 1879 by researcher Constantine Fahlberg, who was working at Johns Hopkins University in the laboratory of professor Ira Remsen. Fahlberg's discovery came after he forgot to wash his hands before lunch. He had spilled a chemical on his hands and it, in turn, caused the bread he ate to taste unusually sweet. In 1880, the two scientists jointly published the discovery, but in 1884, Fahlberg obtained a patent and began mass-producing saccharin without Remsen. The use of saccharin did not become widespread until sugar was rationed during World War I, and its popularity increased during the 1960s and 1970s with the manufacture of Sweet'N Low and diet soft drinks.

4. Slinky

In 1943, naval engineer Richard James was trying to develop a spring that would support and stabilize sensitive equipment on ships. When one of the springs accidentally fell off a shelf, it continued moving, and James got the idea for a toy. His wife Betty came up with the name, and when the Slinky made its debut in late 1945, James sold 400 of the bouncy toys in 90 minutes. Today, more than 250 million Slinkys have been sold worldwide.





3. Potato Chips

If you can't eat just one potato chip, blame it on chef George Crum. He reportedly created the salty snack in 1853 at Moon's Lake House near Saratoga Springs, New York. Fed up with a customer who continuously sent his fried potatoes back, complaining that they were soggy and not crunchy enough, Crum sliced the potatoes as thin as possible, fried them in hot grease, then doused them with salt. The customer loved them and "Saratoga Chips" quickly became a popular item at the lodge and throughout New England.

Eventually, the chips were mass-produced for home consumption, but since they were stored in barrels or tins, they quickly went stale. Then, in the 1920s, Laura Scudder invented the airtight bag by ironing together two pieces of waxed paper, thus keeping the chips fresh longer. Today, chips are packaged in plastic or foil bags or cardboard containers and come in a variety of flavors, including sour cream and onion, barbecue, and salt and vinegar.

2. Fireworks

Fireworks originated in China some 2,000 years ago, and legend has it that they were accidentally invented by a cook who mixed together charcoal, sulfur, and saltpeter -- all items commonly found in kitchens in those days. The mixture burned and when compressed in a bamboo tube, it exploded. There's no record of whether it was the cook's last day on the job.

1. Play-Doh

One smell most people remember from childhood is the odor of Play-Doh, the brightly-colored, nontoxic modeling clay. Play-Doh was accidentally invented in 1955 by Joseph and Noah McVicker while trying to make a wallpaper cleaner. It was marketed a year later by toy manufacturer Rainbow Crafts. More than 700 million pounds of Play-Doh have sold since then, but the recipe remains a secret.

Source : http://science.howstuffworks.com

NELSON MANDELA

NELSON MANDELA

        A towering figure in 20th century history, Nobel Laureate Nelson Mandela showed how wisdom and patience can triumph over bigotry and brute force. Truly the Father of a Nation.

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was the son of one of South Africa's leading dignitaries, Chief Henry Mandela of the Tembu Tribe, and it was as a young law student that he became involved in political opposition to the white minority regime. Joining the African National Congress (ANC) in 1942, he co-founded its more dynamic Youth League two years later.

The 1948 election victory of the Afrikaner-dominated National Party led to the apartheid system of racial segregation becoming law. Mandela rose to prominence in the ANC's 1952 Defiance Campaign and the 1955 Congress of the People, whose adoption of the Freedom Charter provided the fundamental programme of the anti-apartheid cause.

Initially committed to non-violent mass struggle and acquitted in the marathon Treason Trial of 1956-1961, Mandela and his colleagues accepted the case for armed action after the shooting of unarmed protesters at Sharpeville in March 1960 and the banning of anti-apartheid groups.

In 1961, he became the commander of the ANC's armed wing, Umkhonto we Sizwe. In August of the following year, he was arrested and jailed for five years. In June 1964, he was sentenced again, this time to life imprisonment, for his involvement in planning armed action.

He started his prison years in the infamous Robben Island Prison, a maximum security facility on a small island off the coast of Cape Town. In April 1984, he was transferred to Pollsmoor Prison in Cape Town and in December 1988 he was moved to the Victor Verster Prison near Paarl from where he was eventually released.

During his incarceration Mandela taught himself to speak Afrikaans and learned about Afrikaner history. He was able to converse with his guards in their own language, using his charm and intelligence to reason with them and try to understand the way they thought. This caused the authorities to replace the guards around regularly Mandela as it was felt that they could were becoming too lenient in their treatment of their famous prisoner.

While in prison, Mandela rejected offers made by his jailers for remission of sentence in exchange for accepting the Bantustan policy by recognising the independence of the Transkei region and agreeing to settle there. Amongst opponents of apartheid in South Africa and internationally, he became a cultural symbol of freedom and equality.

Mandela remained in prison until February 1990, when sustained ANC campaigning and international pressure led to his release. On 2 February 1990, South African President F.W. de Klerk lifted the ban on the ANC and other anti-apartheid organisations. Mandela was released from Victor Verster Prison on 11 February 1990.

He and President de Klerk - who did much to dismantle the institutions of apartheid - shared the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993. In Mandela's 1994 autobiography, 'Long Walk to Freedom', he did not reveal anything about the alleged complicity of de Klerk in the violence of the 1980s and 90s, or the role of his ex-wife Winnie Mandela in that bloodshed. However, he later discussed those issues in 'Mandela: The Authorised Biography'.

After his release, Mandela returned to the leadership of the ANC and, between 1990 and 1994, led the party in the multi-party negotiations that resulted in the country's first multi-racial elections. As the first black president of South Africa (1994 - 1999) he presided over the transition from minority rule and apartheid. He won praise for his leadership during this time, even from his former white opponents in South Africa.

Following his retirement as president in 1999, Mandela went on to become an advocate for a variety of social and human-rights organisations. He used his status as a respected elder statesman to give weight to pertinent issues, declaring the United States "a threat to world peace" in 2002 while calling on then president George W Bush not to launch attacks on Iraq.

Because his health was declining, Mandela chose to retire from public life in 2004 and went on to reduce his number of appearances, although he was too prominent a figure to disappear completely. His name has been used to promote charitable ventures close to his heart such as the Nelson Mandela Invitational charity golf tournament, which has raised millions of rand for children's charities since its establishment in 2000.

The fight against Aids is one of Mandela's primary concerns and he used his gravitas to raise awareness about the issue on the global stage. Having backed the 46664 Aids fundraising campaign, which was named after his prison number, he went on to call for more openness in discussing the condition. His son Makgatho Mandela died of Aids in 2005 and the statesman used the occasion to tell people that not hiding the condition, but talking about it, is the only way to break the stigma.

In 2007, he brought together elder statesmen, peace activists and human rights advocates including Kofi Annan, Jimmy Carter, Ela Bhatt, Gro Harlem Brundtland and Li Zhaoxing under a non-governmental organisation dubbed The Elders. The aim of the organisation was to combine the elders' collective wisdom and use it to solve some of the world's problems.

Although he spoke out less about issues affecting neighbouring country Zimbabwe in his retirement, Mandela attempted to persuade President Robert Mugabe to vacate office with some dignity in 2007. However, Mr Mugabe ignored him and hung on to power, leading Mandela to slam the "tragic failure of leadership" in June 2008 when Zimbabwe was in crisis following disputed presidential elections.

In November 2009, Mandela's contributions to world freedom were rewarded with a unique gesture by the United Nations General Assembly. The body announced that his birthday, 18 July, would be known as Mandela Day. The recipient of hundreds of awards and honorary recognitions, including the Nobel Peace Prize, Mandela continues to exert influence on the world even without being actively involved in issues.

His last public outing was during the closing ceremony of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in Johannesburg. In January 2011, Mandela was hospitalised, prompting concerns about the health of the 92-year-old statesman. The Nelson Mandela Foundation revealed that he was in Milpark Hospital in Johannesburg, although it said his life was not in jeopardy. He was allowed home after a couple of days and was transported home, where he leads a quiet retirement.

On 18 July 2012, Mandela's 94th birthday, 12 million schoolchildren across South Africa honoured him with a specially composed song to mark the day. Meanwhile, Mandela celebrated quietly at home with his family.

Mandela has been married three times, including a 38-year marriage to politician Winnie Madikizela, who was his second wife. They wed in 1958 and had daughter Zenani the same year. Their second daughter Zindzi was born in 1960. His youngest daughter was just 18 months old when he was sent to prison.

Nelson and Winnie separated in 1992 and divorced in 1996. His first marriage to Evelyn Mase had also ended in divorce in 1957 due to his devotion to revolutionary agitation.

They had been together for 13 years and had four children together including Thembi, who was born in 1946. He died in a car crash in 1969 at the age of 23 and Mandela was not allowed to go to the funeral as he was in jail. Their first daughter Maki, who was born in 1947, died at just nine months old and the couple named their second daughter in 1953 in her honour. Makgatho was born in 1950.

On his 80th birthday he married Graca Machel, widow of the late Mozambican president Samora Machel. The couple now live at his home in Qunu.

Mandela spent more time in hospital towards the end of 2012, suffering from a lung infection and gallstones. He was discharged a few days before New Year and started 2013 at home surrounded by his family.