Accidental Inventions 5 of the Best

NEXT EPSIODE FEB 24
 
Accidental Inventions
 
Crisps
George Crum
 
George Crum (born George Speck;[1] c. 1828 – July 22, 1914)[2] was a mixed-race African/Native American trapper and guide in the Adirondacks, who became renowned for his culinary skills after becoming a cook and restaurant owner in Saratoga Springs, New York. By 1860 he owned Crum's House, a popular lakeside restaurant in nearby Malta.
 
 
 
       
Hotel chef George Crum enjoyed a wonderful knack for cooking. From his kitchen at Moon's Lake House near Saratoga Springs, N.Y., Mr. Crum could "take anything edible and transform it into a dish fit for a king." That skill came in handy – the upscale Lake House attracted customers who were used to being treated like kings.
In 1853, a cranky guest complained about Crum's fried potatoes. They were too thick, he said. Too soggy and bland. The patron demanded a new batch.
Crum did not take this well. He decided to play a trick on the diner. The chef sliced a potato paper-thin, fried it until a fork could shatter the thing, and then purposefully over-salted his new creation. The persnickety guest will hate this, he thought. But the plan backfired. The guy loved it! He ordered a second serving.
 

The first potato chip factory was built in 1895 by William Tappenden in Cleveland, OH. He funded the remodeling of his barn into a factory with the profits he made by delivering potato chips to grocery stores.
It takes 1,000 pounds of potatoes to make 350 pounds of potato chips.


Pringles are made from mashed potatoes that have been dehydrated and reconstituted into a dough.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbbsbE2mQuA
 
Super glue
 
Harry Coover
 

Super Glue, also known as cyanoacrylate, was originally discovered in 1942 by Dr. Harry Coover, who by the way died last month on March 26th, 2011.  Coover was attempting to make clear plastic gun sights to be put on guns used by Allied soldiers in WWII.  One particular formulation he came up with didn’t work well for gun sights, but worked fantastically as an extremely quick bonding adhesive.
 
 
X RAYS
 
The first X-ray device was discovered accidentally by the German scientist Wilhelm Roentgen (1845-1923) in 1895. He found that a cathode-ray tube emitted invisible rays that could penetrate paper and wood. The rays caused a screen of fluorescent material several yards away to glow. Roentgen used his device to examine the bone structure of the human hand.
 
   First x ray photo                                                         Wilhelm Röntgen
 

Upon their discovery in 1895, X-rays were advertised as the new scientific wonder and were seized upon by entertainers. Circus patrons could view their own skeletons and were given pictures of their own bony hands wearing silhouetted jewelry. Many people were fascinated by this discovery. Some people, however, feared that it would allow strangers to look through walls and doors and eliminate privacy.HOW X RAYS WORK SHORT VIDEo
X Rays Work - YouTube
 
MICROWAVE
 
 
 
In 1945, the American engineer, Percy Spencer was carrying out maintenance work on a live radar set. Whilst working within close proximity to the radar equipment, he felt a tingling sensation throughout his body and noticed that a chocolate bar in his pocket had completely melted. After some investigation he determined that it was the microwaves being emitted by the magnetron tube in the radar set which had caused the chocolate to get warm enough to melt.
Percy Spencer experimented further by directing the magnetron tube at kerne(continued)