Accidental Discoveries You've Never Heard Of (But Should Know!)

Bright Side

Did you know there are some totally wild accidental discoveries out there that you probably never heard of? First off, there's the Williams Enigma lith, a freaky rock found with an electrical connector that could be from an ancient civilization – talk about ancient tech! Then, scientists stumbled upon bioluminescent mammals, like glow-in-the-dark critters, totally changing what we thought about glow-ups. And who could forget the accidental discovery of Kellogg's Corn Flakes? Yep, those tasty breakfast flakes were actually a fluke invention from trying to make granola. It's crazy how some of the coolest stuff comes from the most unexpected places!  #brightside   Animation is created by Bright Side.  ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Music from TheSoul Sound: https://thesoul-sound.com/   Listen to Bright Side on:  Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/0hUkPxD34jRLrMrJux4VxV Apple Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/idhttps-podcasts-apple-com-podcast-bright-side/id1554898078 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Our Social Media: Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/brightside/ Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/brightside.official/ Tik Tok - https://www.tiktok.com/@brightside.official?lang=en Snapchat - https://www.snapchat.com/p/c6a1e38a-bff1-4a40-9731-2c8234ccb19f/1866144599336960  Stock materials (photos, footages and other):  https://www.depositphotos.com  https://www.shutterstock.com  https://www.eastnews.ru  ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- For more videos and articles visit: http://www.brightside.me

Transcript

00:00 In 1968, a chemist named Spencer Silver was working for a company.

00:05 His task was to create a brand-new adhesive that was strong and powerful.

00:10 It should be much better than anything available at the time.

00:13 After lots of experimenting, Spencer ended up with an adhesive that stuck but was also

00:18 easy to remove.

00:20 At that point, he probably felt like he failed.

00:23 But little did he know that he was about to change the history of sticky notes forever.

00:28 He made the Post-It.

00:29 Cornflakes were created by accident too.

00:37 Dr. Kellogg experimented with various grains.

00:40 It's a bit murky when it comes to pinpointing the exact moment Kellogg's cornflakes were

00:45 invented.

00:46 Several family members and sanitarium employees claimed credit for the creation.

00:51 According to company history, in 1898, a batch of wheat-based cereal dough was accidentally

00:57 left out for an extended period.

00:59 This caused the dough to ferment.

01:01 It was then rolled out on thin sheets and baked.

01:04 The slightly moldy dough produced large thin flakes that were crispy and tasty.

01:10 Over time, corn was found to produce even crunchier flakes compared to wheat.

01:14 By 1909, Will's Company produced 120,000 cornflake boxes daily.

01:23 Some kitchen appliances were also created by chance.

01:27 Percy Spencer was an engineer working on radar equipment.

01:31 One ordinary day, when he was working, he happened to have a chocolate bar in his jacket

01:35 pocket.

01:36 At one point, it started melting.

01:39 That got him thinking, could it be the microwaves coming from the radar's magnetron that caused

01:44 this?

01:45 To test his theory, he took some corn kernels and, one by one, watched them burst.

01:50 In no time, Percy came up with the very first microwave oven, which was put on the market

01:56 in 1946.

01:57 It's amazing how a melted chocolate bar led to the invention of something that revolutionized

02:03 cooking.

02:04 In 1938, there was a chemist named Roy Plunkett.

02:08 He was trying to develop a new kind of refrigerant.

02:11 But something unexpected happened.

02:13 While messing around with some gas, he noted that it turned into a waxy solid substance.

02:19 That accident led to the creation of polytetrafluoroethylene, or what we now call Teflon.

02:26 We thank him for the cooking pans in our kitchens.

02:29 Yet this material is actually used in various industries.

02:31 I mean, it's even used as a protective coating on spacecraft.

02:38 Another huge discovery was made in 1921.

02:42 Two scientists managed to isolate insulin from the pancreas of a dog.

02:46 This marked a turning point in the treatment of diabetes.

02:49 This issue had been around for a very long time, over 3,000 years.

02:54 The earliest record we have is in a papyrus manuscript from 1,500 BCE.

03:00 Now let's go back to insulin and the pancreas.

03:03 In the 19th century, there was an experiment to remove the entire pancreas from a dog.

03:09 Such dogs developed severe diabetes, just like humans.

03:13 This was a surprise, because at the time, scientists thought the pancreas didn't have

03:17 much to do with diabetes.

03:19 Meanwhile, the world's first antibiotic also came about by pure accident.

03:25 In 1928, bacteriologist Alexander Fleming returned from a vacation.

03:30 He realized he forgot to clean one of the dishes he used in the lab.

03:34 He found mold growing on that forgotten dish.

03:38 It turned out that the mold had unintentionally contaminated the dish.

03:42 When the scientist looked closer, he noticed that the area surrounding the mold was completely

03:47 bacteria-free.

03:48 He named his finding "penicillin" after the fungus species Penicillium notatum.

03:54 Today, penicillin stands as the world's most commonly used antibiotic.

04:02 A pharmacist named John Walker was conducting chemical experiments when he accidentally

04:07 scraped a coated disc.

04:09 To his surprise, the stick burst into flames.

04:12 This sparked an idea in Walker, and in 1827, he began selling friction matches at his pharmacy.

04:20 Walker's matches were cardboard sticks coated in potassium chlorate and antimony sulfide.

04:26 They would ignite when struck against sandpaper.

04:29 Walker's invention quickly gained popularity, but he made an unusual choice – he didn't

04:34 patent it.

04:35 Consequently, others copied his design and started selling their versions.

04:39 In time, they overshadowed his role as the original inventor.

04:44 Sadly, when he was alive, he didn't receive recognition as the creator of the first friction

04:49 match.

04:51 Some accidental inventions can be as small as a matchbox, and others can be as large

04:56 as a ship.

04:57 In 1982, near Kas in southern Turkey, a sponge diver stumbled upon something incredible.

05:04 It was an ancient shipwreck from the late 14th century BCE.

05:09 He first discovered some objects and described them as metal biscuits with ears.

05:16 Interestingly, experts later identified those as oxide ingots.

05:22 This discovery got the archaeologists excited.

05:25 They sent a team to investigate the wreck site further.

05:28 Over the next decade, 11 expeditions took place, each lasting a few months.

05:34 The divers completed over 22,000 dives during this time.

05:38 They uncovered an extraordinary collection of artifacts from the late Bronze Age.

05:43 The ship itself was about 33 feet long.

05:46 The ship's most likely route was from Cyprus or Syria to Greece.

05:51 Its mission was to deliver goods.

05:53 Among the cargo, there were tons of copper and ingots, as well as gold and silver jewelry,

05:59 tools, and various edible goods.

06:01 Today, you can see the incredible artifacts from the shipwreck in the Bodrum Museum of

06:06 Underwater Archaeology.

06:08 They've even reconstructed the ship!

06:13 In 2017, something unusual happened in Portugal.

06:17 A man discovered presumably the biggest sauropod dinosaur skeleton in all of Europe.

06:23 He was working on some construction in his backyard.

06:27 Then he stumbled upon fragments of fossilized bones.

06:30 A team of researchers got to work.

06:32 It was rare to find such well-preserved bones of massive dinosaurs.

06:37 They even found all the ribs still in their original anatomical positions.

06:42 This dino was part of a species that roamed the Earth around 100 million years ago.

06:47 There might be more parts of the dinosaur skeleton nearby.

06:51 This means experts have to continue digging.

06:56 Speaking of people who discover incredible stuff in their backyards, we should look at

07:00 Derinkuyu.

07:02 This place is in Turkey, Cappadocia.

07:04 This place is known for its striking fairy chimneys and colorful hills.

07:09 There's also a hidden city that remained concealed for centuries.

07:13 This underground structure extends more than 279 feet below the surface.

07:18 It boasts an intricate labyrinth of 18 levels of tunnels.

07:22 It's the most extensively excavated subterranean city in the world.

07:27 Its history is very rich too.

07:29 It changed hands from the Persians to the Byzantines.

07:33 The city was a sanctuary for up to 20,000 people, providing shelter for extended periods.

07:39 This astonishing discovery didn't happen until 1963.

07:43 A local resident stumbled upon the place while searching for his lost chickens.

07:49 When he renovated his house, his chickens kept vanishing in a newly formed gap.

07:54 After a thorough look and some digging, the man uncovered a hidden tunnel.

07:59 This was just the beginning.

08:00 More than 600 similar entrances were discovered later.

08:04 The Hittites were often credited with the construction of the oldest levels.

08:08 Now it's believed that the Phrygians, skilled architects of the Iron Age, played a significant

08:13 role in expanding the underground city.

08:17 Lastly, there's a natural medication called quinine, which comes from the Chacona tree's

08:25 bark.

08:26 People have been using it to fight off malaria since the 1600s.

08:29 A legend says that an indigenous man might have started using it even earlier.

08:34 The story goes that a guy with a high fever got lost in the jungle.

08:38 He had to drink water from a pond surrounded by Quinaquina trees.

08:43 He thought he was getting poisoned, but surprisingly, he got better.

08:47 After that, his whole village started using Quinaquina bark.

08:52 Malaria is still a big deal today.

08:54 People have been trying to make quinine in the lab because it's so useful.

08:58 Back in 1820, some scientists figured out how to get quinine from the Chacona bark.

09:03 Yet it took more than 100 years for chemists to get the exact chemical structure of quinine.

09:09 This was a breakthrough in the world of chemistry.

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