Frank Epperson accidentally invented the Popsicle in 1905 when he left a glass of soda and water with a stirring stick outside on a cold night. It wasn't until 18 years later that he began producing and selling his frozen treats called "Eppsicles," which he later renamed Popsicles and patented. By 1928 he had received royalties on over 60 million Popsicle sales. Harry Coover was trying to develop clear plastic gun sights during WWII but accidentally invented Super Glue instead. The adhesive product was commercialized in 1958 and Coover went on to develop its medical applications. He was later awarded the National Medal of Technology and Innovation. William Henry Perkin was 18 when he discovered the

1. SERVET KAZANDIRAN 10 TESADÜFİ BULUŞ

2. 10. Frank Epperson – Popsicle
Eleven-year-old Frank Epperson became part of American folk lore
when on a cold winter‟s night in 1905 he left a mixture of soda powder
and water on his porch with a stirring stick inside the glass. He had
unknowingly created the ice lollipop. But it was not until 18 years later,
in 1923, while running a lemonade stand that he began to produce his
frozen treats under the name „Eppsicles.‟ Later the name was changed
and by 1924 he had patented the ice lollipop and founded the Popsicle
Corporation. The following year, he set up royalty arrangements with
the Joe Lowe Corporation and sold his patent. By 1928 Epperson had
received royalties on more than 60 million Popsicle sales. The year of
his death in 1983, Unilever paid $155 million to Empire of Carolina Inc.
for the Popsicle brand.

3. 9. Harry Coover – Super Glue
At the height of WW2, American chemist Harry Coover and his
research team at Eastman Kodak set out to make clear plastic gun
sights using the highly adhesive chemical cyanoacrylate. They failed
and instead were stuck with Super Glue. The idea took hold and by
1958 superglue was sold as a commercial product, while under Dr
Coover‟s direction the R&D team at Kodak helped introduce 320 new
products, resulting in a $1.8 billion to $2.5 billion sales growth.
However, the company was never able to fully capitalize on his
discovery after it sold the business to National Starch in 1980. Dr
Coover also developed the glue for medical use and during the Vietnam
War it was used as an aersol treatment for wounded soldiers. Today it
has applications in surgery and to stop bleeding ulcers. Dr Coover was
awarded the National Medal of Technology and Innovation by Barack
Obama in 2010 and by the time of his death last month, he held 460
patents.
8. William Henry Perkin – Mauveine

4. English chemist William Henry Perkin was just 18 when in 1856 he
stumbled upon the synthetic dye mauveine while trying to produce a
medicine for malaria. He quickly patented the process and the
following year built the world‟s first organic chemical factory at
Greenford Green, near London. The dye proved immensely popular and
was considered the height of fashion when Queen Victoria wore a
mauve silk gown at the Royal Exhibition in 1862. By the late 1860s the
dye, also known as aniline purple, had lost its appeal, but Perkin had
already made his fortune. Soon after he turned 36, he sold his factory
and was able to live off the profits and buy a much bigger home
laboratory where he devoted himself to research.
7. Roy Plunkett – Teflon
American researcher Roy Plunkett was experimenting with gases for
Freon refrigerants for Dupont in 1938 when he inadvertently left a
sample out overnight. By morning, it had frozen to a whitish wax. But
rather than consign the lump to the trash, he tested it to discover
some of its very unusual properties. By 1945 it was trademarked as
Teflon and Dupont managed to find a wealth of applications for its
latest profit maker, from kitchenware to cable insulation. Plunkett
stayed with the company and at the time of his retirement in 1975, he
was director of operations for Freon products. Teflon has since
earned billions for Dupont. It goes to show how prudent investment in
R&D, combined with a spot of luck, can help businesses generate mass
profits.

5. 6. Leo Hendrik Baekeland – Bakelite
Belgian chemist Leo Baekeland became the patriarch of the plastics
when in 1907 he developed the polymer Bakelite, used in radios
telephones and kitchenware. He had been searching for a replacement
for shellac, a varnish for coating and preserving wood products. When
he thought he had come close, he heated his shellac-like substance in
an iron pressure cooker, his “bakelizer”. With that, plastic was born
and in 1910 Baekeland founded the General Bakelite Company. The
plastic was marketed as “the material of a thousand uses,” and it
comes as no surprise that his discovery drew imitations, leading
Bakelite products to carry logos of authenticity. Academics say
Baekeland was not the original „accidental discoverer.‟ Adolf von
Baeyer had experimented with phenol and formaldehyde in 1872 to
produce a lump with the same properties, which he threw in the trash.
Though Bakelite, no doubt made Baekeland wealthier, he was already a
made man following his earlier discovery of Velox, a paper processing
technique, which he sold for around $1m. Asked by friends why he
entered the polymers industry, he reportedly replied: “To make
money.” He got his wish and sold the company to Union Carbide in 1939.
But, as though proof that money can‟t buy you love, he fell into decline,
became reclusive and started eating all his meals from cans after
falling out with his son. Bakelite became unfashionable from the ‟50s
onwards, but products made from the polymer have enjoyed a small
revival more recently as retro commodities.

6. 5. Robert Chesebrough – Vaseline
Twenty-two year old Brooklyn chemist Robert Chesebrough was in
Pennsylvania in 1859 and looking to establish himself in the oil industry.
He was down an oil well when he discovered a gooey substance known
by workers as „rod wax.‟ Chesebrough noticed how the workers would
use the goo to heal cuts and burns. The entrepreneurial-minded
chemist took a sample home for experimentation. Soon he managed to
extract a usable petroleum jelly and in 1872 he patented the process
before setting up business. By the late 1880s Chesebrough was selling
Vaseline to Americans at the rate of one jar per minute. International
operations began as early as the 1870s when his company opened an
office in London with subsidiaries in Spain and France. By 1911, it
began opening plants and factories in Europe, Canada, and Africa.
Chesebrough died in 1933, but his company continued to reap the
rewards of his discovery for decades. Shortly before Chesebrough-
Ponds was sold to Unilever in 1987, it was generating over $75m
dollars in profits.

7. 4. Joseph McVicker – Play-Doh
Before it became the beloved children‟s toy it is today, for 22 years
Play-Doh was a wallpaper cleaner. In 1954 American Joe McVicker was
working for Kutol, the company producing the dough-like substance
when his sister-in-law approached him with an idea. She had taken
some of the non-toxic cleaner to the nursery where she worked. The
kids went wild and McVicker immediately saw a commercial
opportunity. He added colorants and gave the dough a pleasant almond
scent. He soon established his company, Rainbow Crafts, as a
subsidiary of Kutol. Thanks to his business acumen, McVickers secured
a TV ad campaign for his product, a deal unheard of for a start-up
company at the time. Kutol continued to sell cans of wallpaper cleaner
for 34 cents, but sold Play-Doh, the same stuff, for $1.50 a can. Play-
Doh propelled Kutol‟s sales from under $100,000 in 1954 to $3m within
just four years. In 1960 McVicker filed for a patent and split Rainbow
Crafts from Kutol. He was shipping a million-plus cans a year when he
began exporting to Europe in 1964. Soon after, General Mills offered
McVicker $3m for his company, the equivalent of $18m today. He
accepted.

8. 3. Arthur Fry – Post-it note
American scientist Arthur Fry was given a gift from God on a Sunday
in 1973 when he came up with the idea for the post-it note while
singing in his church choir. The 3M researcher had earlier attended a
seminar by retired company scientist Spencer Silver. Silver had
discovered a unique adhesive but had yet to find a commercially viable
application. Fry‟s eureka moment came when the scrap paper he had
used to bookmark his hymnbook continuously fell out causing him to
lose his page. He thought of Silver‟s adhesive. “If I could coat it on
paper,” he said, “that would be just the ticket for a better bookmark.”
He began experimenting and with his new product sent messages to his
boss. It was then he discovered that its best application was as a note.
It took another seven years before the product was launched
nationally after reservations from management, but today more than
400 post-it products are sold throughout 100 countries worldwide,
with some 6 billion post-it notes sold every year. Fry earned a
promotion for his part and is now enjoying a comfortable retirement.

9. 2. Percy Spencer – Microwave Oven
American engineer Percy Spencer was experimenting with a device
used to detect enemy planes during WW2 when the microwaves
transmitted from the radar melted a candy bar in his pocket. He began
testing with popcorn and eggs and invited a colleague to witness his
findings. The colleague saw how the egg would shake as it heated. As
he marveled at this spectacle, the egg splattered over his face.
Spencer began a secret project codenamed “The Speedy Weenie,”
meaning quick hot dog. By the late 1940s, Raytheon secured a patent
for the use of microwaves to cook food. For the first decade
microwaves were large and expensive, but by 1975, 14% of American
households were cooking by microwave. Spencer, who held 150 patents
during his lifetime, became Senior Vice President and a senior member
of the Board of Directors at Raytheon. His legacy helped the
microwave manufacturer turn over $25bn last year.

10. 1. George de Mestral – Velcro
Finally, a valuable lesson in resourcefulness. Swiss engineer George de
Mestral was taking a morning stroll through the countryside in 1941
when he noted how hard it was to remove the flowers of mountain
thistle from his trousers and his dog‟s coat. He examined the burdock
burrs under a microscope and saw hundreds of small hooks that
explained the thistle‟s adhesive properties. With his scientific
background, de Mestral set out to invent an innovative new fastening
system. Ten years later, Velcro was born. De Mestral obtained a
patent in Switzerland and his product began to hit the shelves
throughout Europe by the late ‟50s. However, it took some time before
he would see a return on his efforts. Velcro was not popularized until
the ‟70s when NASA astronauts began to use it for space suits and to
secure food pouches. De Mestral was selling over sixty million yards of
Velcro per year before he sold the company and worldwide patent
rights to Velcro SA, a Swiss company (later Velcro International).
Before he left he gave the company executives some sound advice: “If
any of your employees ask for a two-week holiday to go hunting, say
yes.” According to his wife he lived on royalties and profits from his
Swiss factory for the remaining 30 years of his life.