HISTORY75 - Ten Accidental Inventions that are Common Household Items

Introduction

On April 18, 2023, I posted a blog on the “Top 10 Inventions that Changed the World.”  The inventions I talked about there were all “on-purpose” inventions, where the inventors directed their efforts to invent a specific item. 

But what about accidental inventions?  There have been many over the years, some that were life changing, and others that found their way into household use by all of us.  Accidental inventions that were important life changers include penicillin, the x-ray machine, dynamite, implantable pacemakers, the blood thinner Warfarin, Viagra, the pap smear, Botox, safety glass, smoke detectors, and perhaps a few others.   I might write about those inventions someday, but what has caught my interest first are the numerous accidental inventions that are now common household items that we use every day.  I selected ten of these accidental inventions to discuss in this blog: microwave oven, Teflon, post-it notes, safety pins, Velcro, Vaseline, tea bags, super glue, bubble wrap, and coca cola.

 

For each of these ten inventions, I will summarize the invention’s history and relate my (and/or Pat’s) personal experiences with the invention.

My principal sources include “30 Life-Changing Inventions That Were Totally Accidental,” bestlifeonline.com; “7 Momentous Inventions Discovered by Accident,” history.com; The Best Accidental Inventions,” inventionland.com; “9 Successful Inventions Made by Accident,” concordia.edu/blog; “15 Of the Coolest Accidental Inventions,” science.howstuffworks.com; “10 Accidental Discoveries That Changed the World,” rd.com; plus, numerous other online sources.

So here are my selected ten accidental inventions that we use every day, in no particular order.

Microwave Oven

A microwave oven is an electric oven that cooks food quickly and efficiently by exposing it to electromagnetic radiation in the microwave frequency range.  This induces molecules in the food to rotate and produce thermal energy.  

In 1945, the heating effect of a high-power microwave beam was accidentally discovered by Percy Spencer, a self-taught American engineer from Howland, Maine.  Employed by Raytheon at the time, he noticed that microwaves from an active radar set he was working on started to melt a Mr. Goodbar candy bar he had in his pocket. The first food deliberately cooked with Spencer's microwave generator was popcorn, and the second was an egg, which exploded in the face of one of the experimenters.

To verify his finding, Spencer created a high-density electromagnetic field by feeding microwave power from a magnetron vacuum tube into a metal box from which it had no way to escape. When food was placed in the box with the microwave energy, the temperature of the food rose rapidly. On 8 October 1945, Raytheon filed a United States patent application for Spencer's microwave cooking process, and an oven that heated food using microwave energy from a magnetron was soon placed in a Boston restaurant for testing.  Named the "Radarange,” it was first sold in 1946, but it flopped commercially.  A cheaper, smaller version came out in 1967 to much better reception and now over 95% of homes in the United States have a microwave oven.

 

Over 95% of homes in the United States have a microwave oven.

Pat thinks her microwave oven ranks up there with the countertop toaster oven as the most useful things in the kitchen.  I can even operate the microwave (for simple tasks).

Teflon

Teflon is not a product on its own, but a brand name of a product.  It refers to a synthetic polymer chemical coating known as polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE).  It's a type of plastic sprayed on various items and then baked to create a nonstick, waterproof, noncorrosive, and nonreactive surface. It creates a barrier between the product and the external elements that can harm it.

PTFE is used as a non-stick coating for pans and other cookware.  It is often used in containers and pipework for reactive and corrosive chemicals.  Where used as a lubricant, PTFE reduces friction, wear, and energy consumption of machinery.  It is also used as a graft material in surgery and as a coating on catheters.  Its applications extend to the manufacturing of industrial, pharmaceutical, and automotive products.

Teflon is also stain-resistant and can be applied to clothing.  Teflon provides a smooth, crack free surface in many nail polishes. Hair styling straighteners and curling irons are often coated in Teflon.

The NASA program uses it on their spacecrafts and clothes as well.‌

And though it's a genius invention that changed the way we cook, clean, and groom, the man who discovered the product - Roy J. Plunkett - did so completely by accident.  The scientist was working at the DuPont Company's Jackson Laboratory in Bar Harbor, Maine in 1938 attempting to make a refrigerant for air conditioning when he noticed that some of his gas had turned into a white powder.  After some testing, Plunkett concluded that the substance was heat-resistant, with low surface friction, giving it the perfect properties for its many uses we see today.

By 1948, DuPont, which founded Kinetic Chemicals in partnership with General Motors, was producing over two million pounds of Teflon brand PTFE per year in Parkersburg, West Virginia.  An early use was in the Manhattan Project as a material to coat valves and seals in the pipes holding highly reactive uranium compounds at the uranium enrichment plant in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.

In 1954, Colette Grégoire urged her husband, the French engineer Marc Grégoire, to try the material he had been using on fishing tackle on her cooking pans.  He subsequently created the first PTFE-coated, non-stick pans.  In the United States, Marion A. Trozzolo, who had been using the substance on scientific utensils, marketed the first U.S.-made PTFE-coated pan in 1961.

Non-stick cookware has since become a common household product, now offered by hundreds of manufacturers across the world.

 

Non-stick cookware has become a common household product.

Seems like we’ve been spending our entire adult lives looking unsuccessfully for the perfect long lasting non-stick pan.  Pat has lately discovered silicon baking pads, and couldn’t be happier.

Post-it Notes

A Post-it Note (or sticky note) is a small piece of paper with a re-adherable strip of glue on its back, made for temporarily attaching notes to documents and other surfaces.  The pressure-sensitive adhesive allows the notes to be easily attached, removed, and even re-posted elsewhere without leaving residue.

Post-It Notes were created entirely by accident.  In 1968, a 3M employee by the name of Spencer Silver was trying to develop a super strong adhesive to be used in the manufacture of airplanes.  What he created instead was a weak, pressure-sensitive adhesive called Acrylate Copolymer Microspheres, which had a couple of interesting features, including its ability to be re-used and the lack of residue it left after being peeled off.  But the employees at 3M couldn’t think of a profitable use for the substance, so the invention was shelved. 

But one day, a fellow engineer at 3M had an idea.  A singer in his church choir, Art Fry was constantly frustrated that the bookmarks in his hymn book kept falling out, causing him to lose his place.   He then thought of Silver’s adhesive, and that it could be used on paper as markers in his hymn book.  This idea still didn’t grab the attention of the company’s executives, but a lab manger named Geoff Nicholson was determined to get it to market.

3M test marketed the product as "Press 'n Peel" bookmarks in stores in four cities in 1977, but results were disappointing.  A year later, marketing the product as a “new way to communicate,” 3M gave free samples to consumers in Boise, Idaho, with 94% of those who tried them indicating they would buy the product.  The product was sold as "Post-Its" at its 1979 introduction, and was rolled out across the United States in 1980.  

But why yellow paper?  That, too, was unintentional.  During the process of experimenting, Nicholson’s team borrowed some scrap paper from the lab next door.  The color of that paper: yellow.  After the scrap pile had been depleted, they simply continued ordering more yellow paper.

Post-it Notes are now available in many standard sizes, shapes, and colors in more than 150 countries.

Post-it Notes are often the tool we use to organize our thoughts, make “to-do” lists, make notes in documents, as bookmarks, for document transfer notes, personal notes, and more.

Post-it notes are tremendously useful in our daily lives.

 

I use post-it notes for all the purposes discussed above.  In my research and writing, I find them invaluable.  

Safety Pin

The safety pin is a pin that includes a simple spring mechanism and a clasp.  The clasp forms a closed loop to properly fasten the pin to whatever it is applied to, and covers the end of the pin to protect the user from the sharp point.

In 1849, inventor Walter Hunt was sitting at his desk trying to figure out a way to pay off a $15 debt to a friend when he started to futz around with a scrap of brass wire.  He began twisting the wire until he had created a device that he called the “dress pin,” with a spring at one end that forced the other end into place and a clasp that kept the pin’s point inside a protective case in order to shield the sharp point from the user.

The basic purpose of Hunt’s invention was to fasten pieces of fabric or clothing together.  The coiled wire design gave enough spring to keep the pin locked in place even as the person wearing it moved around.  Apart from the design being extremely functional, the whole thing was also incredibly easy and cheap to manufacture.  

On April 10, 1849, Hunt patented his idea for the safety pin.  He then sold the patent to W.R. Grace and Company for $400 (roughly $14,000 in 2022 dollars). Using that money, Hunt paid the $15 owed to a friend and kept the remaining amount of $385 for himself.  In the years to follow, W.R. Grace and Company would make millions of dollars in profits from his invention.

Safety pins are commonly used to fasten pieces of fabric or clothing together.  Safety pins are widely used to fasten cloth diapers.  They can also be used as an accessory in all kinds of jewelry including: earrings, chains, and wristbands.  Sometimes they're used to attach an embroidered patch. 

Other uses of safety pins include keeping loose buttons together, removing a splinter, tying a scarf together, hold bra straps in place, keeping curtains closed, lengthening a necklace, cleaning tiny holes, lengthening a drawstring, and holding keys.

Safety pins today come in different size ranging from ¾ inch to 3 inches.  

Standard safety pin.

 

Pat uses safety pins to line up material for sewing and as position markers for her knitting.  On travel, she always carries “emergency” safety pins to temporarily hold torn clothes.  Don’t tell Pat I told you this, but Pat still has the original diaper pins she used for her now 49-year-old son.

Velcro

Swiss electrical engineer George De Mestral didn’t set out to invent a fastener that would someday be common on spacecraft, cars, airplanes, and in the home.  But in 1941, he returned from a walk with his dog to notice that they were both covered in the tiny barbs of the cocklebur plant. 

He examined the burrs under a microscope, discovering they had small hooks that allowed them to easily attach to the loops found in fabric and fur.  Fascinated, he began trying to create his own hook-and-loop fabric.  He saw the possibility of binding two materials reversibly in a simple fashion if he could figure out how to duplicate the hooks and loops.

In 1955, after experimenting with many different materials, De Mestral determined that nylon was the most suitable, with opposing pieces to be fastened having a hook surface and a loop surface - and Velcro was born!  (The name Velcro combines the French - velour and crochet, which mean velvet and hook.)  Switzerland granted De Mestral a patent in 1955.

A Montreal firm, Velek, Ltd., acquired the exclusive right to market the product in North and South America, as well as in Japan, with American Velcro, Inc. of New Hampshire, and Velcro Sales of New York, marketing the "zipperless zipper" in the United States.

The fashion industry did not eagerly adopt the technology, however.  It first gained traction in the 1960s when NASA began using it to help astronauts maneuver in and out of bulky space suits, and secure loose items in their zero-gravity environment.

The next major use Velcro saw was with skiers, who saw the similarities between their outerwear and that of the astronauts, and thus saw the advantages of a suit that was easier to don and doff.   Scuba and marine gear followed soon after.  By the mid-1960s hook-and-loop fasteners began to be used in everyday clothing.

Over the years, improvements to Velcro included strengthening the filament by adding polyester, making double-sided tape, and making the separation of Velcro pieces quieter.

Velcro fasteners are used for a wide variety of applications where a temporary bond is required.

 

Today, because of their ease of use, Velcro fasteners are used for a wide variety of applications where a temporary bond is required.  Velcro fasteners are especially popular in clothing where it replaces buttons or zippers, and as a shoe fastener for children who have not yet learned to tie shoelaces. 

Velcro is used in nuclear power plants and army tanks to hold flashlights to walls.  In cars, Velcro fasteners are used to bond internal ceilings, floor mats, and speaker covers.  They are used in the home when pleating draperies, holding carpets in place, attaching upholstery, and hanging such items as kitchen tools and photo frames.  Closures on backpacks, briefcases and notebooks make use of Velcro fasteners.  Velcro fasteners are an integral part of games such as tag rugby, and flag football, and are used in surfboard leashes and orthopedic braces.

I have several Navajo rugs, from small to very large - all hung on walls of my house with Velcro tape.  Pat uses Velcro tape to gather and hold long cords, and most of her shoes have Velcro fasteners.

Vaseline

In 1859, 22-year-old American chemist Robert Chesebrough traveled to the oil fields in Titusville, Pennsylvania to research what new materials might be created from this new fuel.  He learned of a residue called rod wax that had to be periodically removed from oil rig pumps. The oil workers had been using the substance to heal cuts and burns.  Chesebrough took samples of the rod wax back to Brooklyn, extracted the usable petroleum jelly, received a U.S. patent in 1872, and began manufacturing a medicinal product he called Vaseline.

The name "Vaseline" is said to be derived from the German word for water and the Greek word for oil.

Vaseline was made by the Chesebrough Manufacturing Company until the company merged with Pond's in 1955, and was purchased by Unilever in 1987.

Today Vaseline is used primarily as a healing jelly for minor cuts and abrasions, and as a moisture insulator for local skin conditions characterized by dry skin, such as atopic dermatitis and eczema.

Vaseline has many uses besides as a moisturizer.

 

Other household uses for Vaseline include softening feet and moisturizing cracked heels, preventing diaper rash, removing makeup, reducing skin itching, as a lip balm to help with chapped lips, removing rings stuck on fingers, quick shine for shoes and bags, applied to squeaky door hinges, unsticking a zipper, repairing wood furniture scratches, keeping a bottle lid from sticking, protecting stored chrome, keeping a lightbulb from sticking, and lubricating cabinets and windows.

Vaseline is discouraged for use in sexual intercourse, as it may introduce infection-causing bacteria, and damage latex condoms.  Vaseline is also not recommended for internal use.

Pat and I use Vaseline on our chapped lips at night and sometimes as a minor injury salve.

Tea Bags

A tea bag is a small, porous, sealed bag or packet, typically containing tea leaves or the leaves of other herbs, which is immersed in water to steep to make tea.

Tea bag patents date from 1903 when Roberta Lawson and Mary McLaren, of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, were granted U.S. patent for a Tea Leaf Holder, which they had filed for in 1901. These first tea bags were hand-sewn fabric bags.  Appearing commercially around 1904, tea bags were successfully marketed in about 1908 by Thomas Sullivan, a tea and coffee importer from New York, who shipped his silk tea bags around the world.  At this time, the loose tea in the tea bags was intended to be removed from the bags by the customer.

But supposedly, customers found it convenient and easier to brew the tea with the tea leaves still enclosed in the porous bags.

The first tea bag packing machine was invented in 1929 by Adolf Rambold for the German company Teekanne.  The heat-sealed paper fiber tea bag was patented in 1930 by William Hermanson.  The now-common rectangular tea bag was not invented until 1944.  Prior to that, tea bags resembled small sacks.

Tea bags today are commonly made of filter paper or food-grade plastic, or occasionally of silk cotton or silk.  Tea bags can be used multiple times until there is no extraction left.  Some tea bags have an attached piece of string with a paper label at the top that assists in removing the bag, while also displaying the brand or variety of tea.

Half of tea drinkers use only tea bags to make tea.

 

In a 2019 survey, 51% of tea drinkers said they used only tea bags.  20% said they used mainly tea bags.  Over 65% of all tea consumed in the United States in 2012 was from tea bags.

Other varied  uses for tea bags include use a wet compress over puffy eyes to reduce dark circles, puffiness, and redness; applied on bug bite to reduce inflammation, a painful rash and itchiness; ease pain and help ease swelling caused by small scrapes or bruises; reducing pain of a toothache; easing sore nipples of nursing mothers; helping get rid of blackheads; mixing in with soil to help shoots and roots grow faster and boost chemical production in plants; adding to a compost pile to enhance plant growth; and as a dye.

Pat loves to drink tea, and has a cupboard full of various tea bags.  We were interested enough in how tea is made that on vacation, we toured the Celestial Seasonings Tea Factory in Boulder, Colorado.

Super Glue

In 1942, Dr. Harry Coover was working on a research team at Eastman Kodak to develop clear plastics that could form precision sights for the U.S. Military's guns during WWII.  The team unintentionally found a chemical compound that was incredibly sticky, but they disregarded it because it had no use for the gun sights.

In 1951, Coover was leading another project for the same company.  This time, he and his team were looking to develop a clear and heat-proof material for jet plane canopies.  One of the research students, ironically named Fred "Joyner," rediscovered the same formula Coover found in 1942.  Subsequent experiments helped Coover to realize that the sticky substance could be used as a glue that didn’t require any heat or pressure to bond two items together permanently.

Coover finally brought the discovery to the attention of the company, and the substance was embraced and repurposed as "Alcohol-Catalyzed Cyanoacrylate Adhesive Compositions/Superglue," as the patent reads.

Eastman Kodak first sold the product in 1958.  It was a life-saving tool during the Vietnam War.  U.S. soldiers used the glue to seal the wounds of injured soldiers.

By the 1970s, super glue was being manufactured and sold by sever companies.

Super glue has industrial, medical, and household uses.

 

Super glue forms strong bonds on materials such as metal, ceramic, leather, rubber, vinyl, some plastics, and many similar surfaces.  Medical grade super glue is sometimes used to seal small cuts, scrapes, and mild wounds.

Today, super glue is the common name for a group of fast-acting adhesives with industrial, medical, and household uses.  It normally comes in a small tube, and is often sold as "Super Glue" or "Krazy Glue.”

Super glue will stick to human skin instantly.  It can be removed with acetone, commonly found in nail polish remover.  

Pat and I have used super glue sparingly in the past, but in recent years have used other (water soluble) specialized glues for such purposes as jewelry repair.

Bubble Wrap

Bubble wrap is a pliable transparent plastic material used for packing fragile items.  Regularly-spaced, protruding air-filled hemispheres (bubbles) provide cushioning for fragile items.

In 1957, two New Jersey inventors named Alfred Fielding and Marc Chavannes were attempting to create three-dimensional plastic wallpaper by sealing two shower curtains together, creating a smattering of air bubbles.  When the product turned out to be unsuccessful as wallpaper, the team sold it as greenhouse insulation.

Although these ideas were failures, they found that what they made could be used as protective packing material.  Fielding and Chavannes cofounded the Sealed Air Corporation in 1960 to produce “bubble wrap.”

Bubble wrap's first client was IBM, which used the product to protect the IBMN 1401 computer during shipment. 

Bubble wrap is mostly used to pack fragile items.

 

The bubbles that provide the cushioning for fragile or sensitive objects are generally available in different sizes (diameters 0.24 in to 1 inch or more), depending on the size of the object being packed, as well as the level of cushioning protection needed.  Multiple layers may be needed to provide shock and vibration isolation, while a single layer may simply be used as a surface protective layer.  Bubble wrap is also used to form some types of mailing envelopes.

Today, bubble wrap is most often formed from low-density polyethylene film with a shaped side bonded to a flat side to form air bubbles. 

I’ve written several books, and typically package books I need to mail to customers in bubble wrap envelopes or  boxes with bubble wrap packing material.  I’ve also used bubble wrap to send fragile items to family members.  Pat uses bubble wrap to pack items she sells (or returns) to internet customers.  We have a dedicated shelf in the garage for bubble wrap packing materials.

Coca Cola

One of the most popular soft drinks in the world also has one of the most unusual histories.  In 1866, an American pharmacist named John Pemberton was trying to create a painkiller.  Pemberton had been gravely injured in the Civil War, and developed a morphine dependency that he hoped to curb by inventing an effective, opiate-free alternative.

His first product, which he called Pemberton’s French Wine Coca, contained a few ingredients you won’t find in today’s recipe:  coca wine, which combined alcohol with leaves from the cocaine-containing coca plant, and kola nuts, which contain stimulating caffeine.

His “French Wine” was popular, but when the temperance movement took hold in his home state of Georgia in 1886, he had to develop an alcohol-free alternative.  He substituted sugar syrup for wine, and while tinkering with the formula he accidentally mixed his concoction with carbonated water.  After tasting it, he decided to market the beverage as a fountain drink instead of a medication, naming it “Coca-Cola” after its original ingredients.

 

Coca Cola is one of the world’s most popular and well-known drinks.

Unfortunately, Pemberton’s health worsened, as did his morphine dependency, and he died in poverty just two years after his invention.  By then, he had sold his shares to his business partner Asa Griggs Candler, who turned Coca-Cola into one of the most successful companies in the world.

I’ve been a life-long Pepsi Cola drinker.  Pat swears that Coca Cola is the go-to drink to settle an upset stomach.

Conclusion

This concludes my discussion of ten accidental inventions that became household items that we use every day.  Of course, there are other inventions in this category that I didn’t discuss, including stainless steel, vulcanized rubber, chocolate chip cookies, potato chips, artificial sweeteners, ice cream cones, chewing gum, silly putty, matches, and brandy.  Hey, that’s ten more!  I can see a future blog coming!