Everyday Products That Were Invented by Accident

Company: Kellogg’s
Discovered By: John and William Kellogg
Year Invented: 1894

One of America’s most popular breakfast cereals was created in 1894 when a bowl of cooked wheat that brothers, William and John Kellogg accidentally left out, went stale. At the time, they were attempting to come up with healthy food alternatives for the patients at the Battle Creek Sanitarium in Michigan, where John worked as the superintendent. After systematically removing the mold from the wheat paste, the brothers were left with flakes that they in turn, toasted. 

Corn Flakes ©areallart / Shutterstock.com

In 1896 the patent for “Flaked Cereals and Process of Preparing Same” was granted to the brothers, and after a legal battle with John, that began because William wanted to add sugar to the cereal to make it appeal more to the masses, which John was not too keen on, William started the Kellogg Company in 1906 and begun producing Corn Flakes on a wider scale. Although there are many generic brands of corn flakes now, there will always be only one Kellogg’s Corn Flakes.

Company: 3M
Discovered By: Dr. Spencer Silver and Arthur Fry
Year Invented: 1968

While attempting to create a super-strong adhesive, 3M scientist Dr. Spencer Silver accidentally invented the reusable, pressure-sensitive adhesive that is used to anchor Post-It notes to the desired object. It was not until 1974, however, that Art Fry first thought to use some of the “low-tack” adhesives in order for his bookmark to remain attached to his hymn book.

Post-It Notes ©Indypendenz / Shutterstock.com

After following the proper protocols in order to utilize 3M “permitted bootlegging” policy, the “Press ’n Peel” bookmark became available to a limited consumer base in 1977. In 1980, more than ten years after Dr. Silver’s discovery, Post-Its became available to the American public. The discovery of the adhesive was not the only part of the notes that happened by chance. The lab next door to the team that developed the Post-It note only had yellow scrap paper available for trials, thus eliminating the toughest decision of all, what color to make the final product.

Company: Pepsi Co.
Discovered By: Stacy Madison and Mark Andrus
Year Invented: 1996

In 1996, Stacy Madison and her, then-husband, Mark Andrus owned a food truck where they sold pita bread sandwiches. In order to cut down on waste, and keep waiting for customers happy, they began giving away free pita chips that were baked using the extra pitas from the day before and seasoned with either Parmesan cheese or cinnamon sugar. 

Stacey's Pita Chips @stacys / Facebook.com

Due to the success of the pita chips, and the difficulties of running a food truck in the harsh Boston winter, Mark and Stacy opted to close down their pita sandwich operation and focus their full attention on pita chips. After what began as a gimmick, Mark and Stacy developed the company in a multi-million dollar operation and sold the company to PepsiCo. in 2005 for $243 million.

Company: Ferrari
Discovered By: Enzo Ferrari
Year Invented: 1947

Adopting the “prancing horse” logo from World War 1 fighter pilot Francesco Baracca, was meant to bring Enzo Ferrari luck. When Ferrari left Alfa Romeo (the team he raced for), he had the skill and the knowledge needed in order to not only race but build racecars. It was the image of his vehicles that came together by chance. As his logo, he opted to use the “prancing horse”, on a yellow shield that represented his hometown.

Ferrari ©yousang / Shutterstock.com

The color of the car, however, was already decided for him because, in the early days of auto-racing, all Italian Grand Prix racecars were assigned the color red. It would appear as though that horse gave Enzo all the luck he needed, as the Ferrari race team has won more than 5,000 races, and the classic red color that was originally assigned to the car accounts for the color of 45% of all Ferraris sold.

Company: Coca-Cola
Discovered By: John Pemberton
Year Invented: 1886

Coca-Cola was not the beverage he had in mind when Colonel John Pemberton first sought out a solution to the morphine addiction that he and many other American Civil War veterans suffered from. Inspired by the positive reception that French-Corsican coca wine had been receiving, Pemberton created ‘Pemberton’s French Wine Coca nerve tonic’ in 1885. The two drinks were similar in most ways, with the only major difference being that, aside from wine and cocaine, The Colonel’s tonic also included the African kola nut for caffeine.

Coca Cola ©Fotazdymak / Shutterstock.com

A year later when the prohibition legislation was passed in Atlanta and Fulton County, Pemberton answered by removing the alcohol from the recipe and marketing it as “Coca-Cola: The Temperance Drink”. The temperance group, of course, were the individuals who were against the consumption of alcohol, and therefore pro-prohibition. It took another thirteen years for the cocaine to be removed from the recipe. 

Company: Sweet N’ Lo
Discovered By: Constantine Fahlberg
Year Invented: 1879

Constantine Fahlberg a chemist at John Hopkins University who, at the time was trying to find a new use for coal tar, accidentally discovered the key ingredient in “Sweet N Low”, saccharin. One evening after work, Fahlberg noticed that, as a result of the benzoic sulfimide compound with which he had been working that day, his food had tasted sweeter. Fahlberg patented the product in 1884, but it wasn’t until a few decades later that saccharin began to take off.

Saccharine ©SabOlga / Shutterstock.com

The mainstream commercialization of sugar substitutes did not begin until the sugar shortage caused by World War 1, however, saccharin has withheld the test of time and can now be found at restaurants and cafes all over the world as a substitute for those who do not wish to consume sugar.

Company: 3M
Discovered By: Patsy Sherman
Year Invented: 1952

In the early 1950s, while working as a chemist for 3M, Patsy Sherman was given the task of developing a material made of rubber that could withstand extreme exposure to jet aircraft fuels. Following an accidental spill by Sherman’s colleague, and the excellent detective work that transpired in its wake, Patsy’s plans changed.

Scotchguard ©David Tonelson / Shutterstock.com

After dropping some of the mixture that Sherman was working with on her foot, the two had noticed that as the rest of the shoe had been stained, the spot where the mixture had fallen remained unblemished. In 1956 Scotchgard began to be sold as a durable water and stain repellent for furniture and fabrics, and in 1973 Patsy Sherman and Samuel Smith finally received patents for their discovery from twenty-one years earlier.

Company: Dom Perignon
Discovered By: Dom Pierre Perignon
Year Invented: 1668

Dating back at least five centuries, the vineyards in Champagne have been producing some of the world’s best wines. In the mid-17th century, people began to notice that as a result of the freezing temperatures that are present during the winter season in Champagne, the amount of carbon dioxide that was present within the wine bottles increased. The result of the increase in CO2 was the improper fermentation of the grapes, which caused slight carbonation in the wine.

Champagne ©Shebeko / Shutterstock.com

Dom Pierre Perignon, a French monk from the vineyards of Champagne, was sent for by the Catholic Church in 1668 in order to help solve the problem of the unwanted carbonation that was found within the wines. By the end of the century, the taste of carbonated wine had grown on people. Instead of finding a way to remove the carbonation, Perignon set out to find ways to enhance the fizziness while not losing out on the flavor of the wine. He must have succeeded on his quest as a bottle of Dom Perignon champagne could cost anywhere from $130-$84,700/bottle.

Company: DuPont
Discovered By: Roy J. Plunkett
Year Invented: 1938

While researching refrigerants for Dupont in 1938, Roy J. Plunkett noticed that the weight of the gas in a pressure bottle showed that it was not empty, however, the flow of air had ceased. Unable to find a cause for the misreading, Plunkett sawed the bottle in half to find out what the problem was. Upon doing so, he found that, with the inside of the container as a catalyst, some of the gas had turned into a waxy white substance. 

Teflon ©nery1856 / Shutterstock.com

Plunkett’s follow-up testing revealed that the substance was resistant to high temperatures and in 1945 DuPont registered the Teflon Trademark. Annually, more than four-hundred million pounds of Teflon are produced worldwide and due to its waxy nature, a good deal of that is used as the main component in the non-stick cooking trays and pans that have become all the rage.

Company: Hasbro
Discovered By: Noah McVicker
Year Invented: 1930s

At Kroger Grocery’s request in the 1930s, Noah McVicker of Kutol Products, the Cincinnati-based manufacturer of soap, originally created “Play-Doh” as a re-usable modeling compound that was intended to remove coal residue from wallpaper. Almost two decades later, it was Noah’s nephew’s sister-in-law, Kay Zufall, who helped to mold the right path for the company.

Play-Doh ©Ekaterina_Minaeva / Shutterstock.com

In the mid-1950s, Kay Zufall was a nursery school teacher who had been using the putty to help entertain and teach her students. She had told Joe about the success the product had been with the little ones, and they worked together, along with Noah, in order to re-work the product as a children’s toy. Joe and Noah wanted to call it “Rainbow Modeling Compound” but more creative heads prevailed. Zufall and her husband came up with the name “Play-Doh”

Company: Goodyear
Discovered By: Charles Goodyear
Year Invented: 1839

For years, Charles Goodyear was trying to create a weatherproof rubber. It was not until he accidentally dropped a mixture that included rubber and sulfur, into a frying pan, that Goodyear finally found what he was after. Goodyear was shocked to discover that the substance did not burn in the pan. In fact, it grew firmer as the heat was increased.

Vulcanized Tires ©Salivanchuk Semen / Shutterstock.com

By the end of 1839, Charles Goodyear had the process patented. He called the process “vulcanization”, due to the extreme levels of heat needed in order to gain the desired result. Charles Goodyear was producing rubber on an industrial scale by 1844. Thanks to Goodyear’s, lucky accident, hundreds of vulcanized rubber-based products have been created, including the hockey puck the tires that are found on motorized vehicles around the world.

Company: Chesebrough Manufacturing Company
Discovered By: Robert Augustus Chesebrough
Year Invented: 1872

When Robert Chesebrough traveled to the Pennsylvanian oil fields in 1859, he did so in hopes of researching what could be made with the new fuel. Chesebrough discovered that the field’s workers were using a waxy substance to help heal cuts and burns that occurred while working. They called it “rod wax” because it was forming around the oil rig pumps.

Vaseline ©Mashka / Shutterstock.com

Robert Chesebrough extracted the usable petroleum jelly from the samples of wax that he took back to Brooklyn with him. Shortly thereafter he received the patent for “Vaseline”, the new medicinal product that he had derived from petroleum. In 1987, the Chesebrough Manufacturing Company was purchased by, British multinational consumer goods company, Unilever, which continues to produce “Vaseline” on a massive scale.

Company: Ferrero Company
Discovered By: Pietro and Michele Ferrero
Year Invented: Mid-1940s

In 1925 a pastry chef in Turin, Italy came up with an idea for a cheaper alternative to chocolate that could be spread onto bread by workers, who were after a sweet afternoon snack with their lunches. The spread that consisted of cocoa and chopped Gianduja hazelnuts, although hard, was a hit amongst everyone from workers to children. 

Nutella ©margouillat photo / Shutterstock.com

Ferrero refocused on the youthful consumer and began looking for a way to soften the mixture and make it more spreadable. The final version that Ferrero had produced in his lifetime was hard and in the shape of a loaf. Ferrero is responsible for combining the ingredients that give Nutella its flavor, however, it was an accident that gave Nutella its spreadable texture. A few months after Ferrero’s passing, it was discovered that the loaves of the product had melted and needed to be transferred into jars. It was during the transfer that the idea of Nutella as a spread that can be sold in a jar was born. 

The first jar of Nutella emerged from the Ferrero factory in Alba, Italy on April 20th, 1964. Sadly, the creator of Nutella, Pietro Ferrero, passed away before he had the opportunity to see the product released or even in the same consistency as it is known today, but his son, Michele, managed to finish what his father had first set out to do.

Company: Kimberly-Clark
Discovered By: World War 1 Nurses
Year Invented: 1914-1918

Paper products company Kimberly-Clark developed a super-absorbent wood pulp-based material called Cellucotten during World War 1 which was used as both a gas mask filter as well as a less expensive material for bandages. Due to the lack of supplies, some of the first world war’s front-line health workers had to get creative when it came to feminine hygienic products.

Kotex ©EimzaawahPhoto / Shutterstock.com

During ‘The Great War’, army nurses began using Cellucotten bandages as makeshift sanitary napkins, thus inadvertently creating the first Kotex prototypes. Following the war, upon discovering how the nurses were benefitting from the use of the material, Kimberly-Clark created Kotex which would, in turn, become the first disposable sanitary pad.