Serendipitous inventions

Have you ever started out with a plan to create something, and then a mistake or a minor accident seemed to ruin it?
You may have been discouraged at first. Then, with careful observation and creative imagination you saw that you had actually created something even better than you originally planned.
That's called serendipity.
The first use of the word was in 1754 when Horace Walpole wrote it in a letter to a friend. He said the new noun was inspired by an old Persian fairytale called The Three Princes of Serendip. These princes, despite misadventures, enjoyed great good fortune that they were neither expecting nor seeking. The good fortune however, could not have come if they hadn't skillfully managed their misfortune.
Today's column will be about serendipitous inventions, starting with an eleven-year-old inventor. Frank Epperson created the first popsicle in 1905. One winter night, a glass of pop Frank was drinking was unintentionally left outside with a spoon in it. The next day, he discovered the frozen pop with a handle and was delighted with it. Eighteen years later he remembered his frozen treat, patented it and went into business.
Although washing our hands before eating is very important, Constantin Fahlberg, a chemist at Johns Hopkins University, didn't wash after work one day in 1879 when he was creating chemical dyes from coal tar. The bread he ate for supper tasted very sweet, but his wife's bread didn't. Hmmm. He investigated further. He had created Saccharin, the first artificial sweetener.
In 1886, John Pemberton, a pharmacist in Atlanta, was trying to improve a headache tonic he had made from cola nuts, wine and the coca plant. He substituted sugar for the wine and loved the taste. So did everyone else. He started selling it as a refreshing drink for five cents a glass. John's bookkeeper named it Coca Cola.
In 1968, Spencer Silver was nursing a wounded ego after a failure in the 3M Research Laboratories. He had been trying to make a really strong glue. Instead, what he created wouldn't permanently stick anything to anything. In 1972, his colleague, Arthur Fry, applied Spencer's useless glue to a bookmark that had been falling out of his hymnary. Now the bookmark temporarily stuck to the pages without ruining them! Seven years later 3M was selling Post It Notes, which have been in demand ever since.
Next week: Serendipity continued.
smartypantsjw@gmail.com
Jacqueline Warlow, mother of three, grandmother of six, writer and retired educator, lives in Dartmouth.