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Columbus's Legacy: I'm Lost!

When Christopher Columbus happened upon what would eventually be known as the Bahama Islands in 1492, the Italian explorer reported back to the Spanish monarchy that not only had he reached Asia, but he’d also discovered an island off the coast of China (present day Hispaniola).

We’ll cut Chris some slack (thousands of miles worth), but in Honor of Columbus Day, we thought it would be fun to look at some other notable, “Oops, look what I found!” moments in history.

X-Rays - 1895

Wilhelm Roentgen, Professor of Physics in Wurzburg, Bavaria, discovered X-Rays while experimenting with cathode rays. During tests he noticed a mineral in his darkened office giving off light. The mineral (barium platinocyanide), was still able to give off light even with objects placed in the path of the ray. Eventually, Roentgen would capture an X-ray image of his wife’s hand where her wedding ring is clearly visible.

Penicillin - 1928

Scottish biologist Alexander Fleming was investigating the properties of the bacteria staphylococci, when his own lack of sanitary lab practices led to his historic discovery. Fleming observed that a fungus which had invaded his culture dishes had stopped the growth of his bacteria samples. After determining the mould was from the Penicillium genus, Fleming named his discovery “Penicillin,” and the modern era of antibiotics was born.

Champagne - 17th Century

Legend tells us that French Monk Dom Pierre Pérignon originally set out to make white wine from the black grapes of the region of Champagne. However the long fermentation time of the wine (due to the colder climate of the region), resulted in an unintended effervescence, and the sparkly stuff was born.

While it is true that the sparkling of the wine was unintended, recent research has documented that the process of making champagne was already in use half a decade prior to Pérignon’s arrival in the Abbey of Hautvillers.

Potato Chips - 1853

Although there are multiple claims to the origin of this snack food, one popular account of the birth of potato chips goes something like this:

Weary of a customer who continued to send back his potato fries as being “too soggy” at a restaurant in Saratoga, New York, Chef George Crum stir-fried extremely thin slices of potato out of spite. Believing he had gotten the better of his disgruntled diner, Crum sent his creation back out. But to Crum’s astonishment, his customer was so elated with the creation, the “Saratoga Chip” was born. Soon after, the impromptu delicacy began to appear on menus throughout New York and New England.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

In 1930, Ruth Wakefield and her husband bought the Toll House Inn located in Whitman, Massachusetts. There are two accounts of how, exactly, chocolate chip cookies came into being, however both versions agree that Whitman was the unintentional inventor.

The first version is that Mrs. Wakefield had run out of baker’s chocolate for a chocolate cookie recipe she was baking, so she broke up bits of a chocolate bar hoping the ad libbed ingredients would melt into the mixture. But the chocolate only softened in the oven and the chocolate chip cookie was born.

The other version of the story states that while Mrs. Wakefield was mixing sugar cookies, the vibrations from the large mixer caused Nestlé's chocolate bars located on a shelf above the mixer to fall into the mixer bowl, breaking into smaller pieces throughout the batter as the mixer churned. Rather than throwing the batter out, Mrs. Wakefield used it.

Post-It Notes

Around 1970, Dr. Spencer Silver of 3M was working to create a strong adhesive. Unfortunately, all he could develop was a light adhesive that could be easily removed. As a result of the adhesive’s “low tack,” however, the adhesive was by its very nature, “reusable.” Silver’s invention gained little fanfare within the ranks of 3M, but a few years later, Art Fry, a colleague of Silver’s at 3M, recalled Silver talking about his invention when seeking a way to keep his bookmarks in his hymnal for his church choir. Fry acquired some samples of Silver’s adhesive and was delighted with the results. By 1977, Post-It Notes were in production.