Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

Things That Were Actually Invented By Accident

Things That Were Actually Invented By Accident
Old Motor Engine for pumping water under the earth usually Pakistani Farmer use for watering the fields
Photo by Jamshaid Mughal on Unsplash
Make us preferred on Google

What might seem like a roadblock or an inconvenience might prove itself to be a much needed stroke of good luck.

Take for example, those who saw an early performance of the Broadway musical The Pajama Game, who arrived to discover the show's acclaimed dancer, Carol Haney, was out with a broken foot.

Well, however disappointed those in the audience may have been at the time, everyone present could later brag that they got to see Shirley Maclaine go on for the role.

Maclaine had some good luck herself that night, as a Hollywood talent scout happened to be in the audience.

Similarly, there have been several inventors and entrepreneurs over time who have worked hard at creating a life-changing invention, only to make a detrimental mistake.

Detrimental to the project they were working on, at least, as some of these mistakes resulted in legendary inventions.


Redditor figinjosejospe was curious to hear about the most prolific inventions which were all the source of an accident, leading them to ask:
"What was invented by accident?"

Romy And Michelle Were On To Something...

"Post-its."

"They were looking for a strong glue and produced a weak one, but the secretaries of the inventors pointed out that that it was ideal for making removable notes."- amerkanische_Frosch

Miracle Cure?

"Penicillin?"

"But it wasn’t invented just discovered by accident."- Tigydavid135

Cheesy Goodness!

"Velveeta cheese was a byproduct that was considered waste."

"Someone noticed that factory workers were dipping bread into that vat of byproduct during lunchtime."

"From there, Velveeta was born."

"Also, margarine was originally developed as supplemental chicken feed, but various recipes kept killing chickens."

"So, it was repurposed for human consumption."- Drlmichele88

"Probably cheese."

"My dads go-to small talk line for like 5 years in the 90s was, 'I wonder who the first person to eat cheese was'."

"'Must have been pretty hungry'.”- RabbiVolesBassSolo

nacho cheese GIFGiphy

Making The Best Of A Sticky Situation

"Superglue was invented during WW2 by accident."

"The inventor was trying to make clear gun scopes."- BootProfessional8335

Some Things Just Don't Need Fixing...

"I love how the video game character 'Kirby' was created and how he became his own series."

"Originally, Kirby was created to be sort of a 'test dummy' that would get a more detailed design later on, but the designers ended up falling in love with him as is and kept him as he was."

"The franchise reached its 30th anniversary this year and it’s one of Nintendo’s strongest properties to this day."- KipsyCakes

...But What It's Purpose?...

'Silly putty."

'It was a failed attempt at making synthetic rubber I believe or maybe glue I don't remember which."- SwimmerSea3163

Giphy

Where Would Transportation Be Today?

"Vulcanized rubber."

"Charles Goodyear came up with it by accident."

"Without it we don't have tires, gaskets, seals, soles of shoes, hoses, shock absorbers and hell of a lot more."

"Pretty much changed the whole world."- TriplePube

POW!

"Believe it or not, gun powder."

"Some Chinese scientists were trying to create fire bombs and made this powder type substance that just exploded in their face instead."- Reddit

Action!

"Special effects."

"For a while, it was assumed you had to keep the camera rolling thru a whole scene, also easier to splice the movie together."

"A director, forgot his name, was filming a bus when his camera jammed, by the time he fixed it, the bus had left and there was a bench right behind it."

"When they looked at the film during editing, it looked like the bus had magically turned into a bench."- stealthkoopa

fake martin scorsese GIFGiphy

Next time you use baking powder instead of baking soda when baking a cake, don't be too dismayed by the flat cake you see before you.

However unsuccessful it may have been as a cake, it might have been the perfect formula for brownies.

Resulting in one happy, and delicious, accident.

More from Trending/best-of-reddit

A close up of Shirley MacLaine.
Amanda Edwards / Contributor/Getty Images

Shirley MacLaine Just Made A Rare Appearance At 92 To Promote A Screening Of 'Sweet Charity'—And Fans Are Loving It

One has to have a pretty impressive résumé or pedigree to be deemed a "legend." But few would argue that Academy Award Winner Shirley MacLaine is, indeed, a legend of the silver screen.

After being discovered by a Hollywood producer as an understudy in the Broadway musical The Pajama Game, MacLaine launched to almost instant Hollywood stardom after appearing in Alfred Hitchcock's The Trouble With Harry, going on to a prolific, almost 70-year career.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshot of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Fox News

RFK Jr's Phone Interrupts Autism Alert Announcement With Hilariously Fitting Ringtone In Viral Clip

Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. attracted attention for his hilariously fitting ringtone while speaking in Minnesota on Friday about a new National Autism Missing and Endangered Person Alert Initiative.

The new federal initiative, led by HHS in partnership with the Justice Department and FEMA, is intended to improve the response when autistic children or adults go missing. The program will build on existing missing-person procedures and FEMA’s Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS) to develop a national framework for autism-related cases.

Keep ReadingShow less
John Stamos
Michael Kovac/Getty Images for AARP

John Stamos Just Showed That He's Still Got It At Age 63 By Posing For A Selfie In His Birthday Suit—And Fans Are Sweating

John Stamos from Full House may be a card-carrying member of the AARP nowadays, but he's still got it—and he's got the naked selfie to prove it.

Full House's own Uncle Jesse just turned 63, and to mark the occasion he took a nude selfie on Instagram, and it's got fans saying "have mercy."

Keep ReadingShow less
Donald Trump waving green flag at IndyCar race
Doug Mills/Pool/AFP via Getty Images

Trump Roasted After Video Of Him Aggressively Waving Start Flag At IndyCar Race Around D.C. Goes Viral

President Donald Trump was widely mocked after video footage of him waving the starting flag for the Freedom 250 Grand Prix on Sunday went viral.

Washington, D.C., hosted the inaugural Freedom 250 Grand Prix on Sunday, turning downtown streets, including part of Pennsylvania Avenue, into an IndyCar circuit as part of the nation’s 250th anniversary celebrations.

Keep ReadingShow less
Donald Trump
Samuel Corum/Getty Images

The Trump Administration Just Canceled Major Funding For Alzheimer's Research Due To 'DEI'—And People Are Beyond Furious

Back in March 2025, it was revealed that the administration of MAGA Republican President Donald Trump had slashed funding for Alzheimer’s research as part of their purge of all things diversity, equity, or inclusion (DEI) related.

It was also later revealed that most of the cuts were done by Elon Musk's untrained, unqualified Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) personnel—who couldn't define or describe diversity, equity, or inclusion even after making $16.5 billion of initially listed cuts across 1,127 cancelled or adjusted federal contracts because of "DEI"—using AI filters.

Keep ReadingShow less