Accidental inventions quiz: which one was really a fluke?
From penicillin to Velcro, from the microwave oven to laminated glass: some inventions turned up while someone was busy doing something else. Eight questions on how well you remember the story.
Most inventions are planned for years. Yet a handful of the most familiar products in the history of science came about the other way round: one person went on holiday, another noticed something melting in a pocket, a third was picking burrs off a dog. The common thread is that chance alone was never enough โ someone had to notice the oddity and chase it.
In the eight questions below, pick the correct detail of each story. Every option sounds plausible; a small detail is what separates them.
What did Alexander Fleming see in a petri dish in his lab when he came back from holiday in 1928?
Which detail led engineer Percy Spencer to the idea of the microwave oven?
What inspired Swiss engineer George de Mestral to invent Velcro?
How did the sticky note (Post-it) come about?
How did Wilhelm Conrad Rรถntgen notice X-rays in 1895?
How did Teflon, known for non-stick pan coatings, come to light?
The colourful modelling compound Play-Doh was originally sold as what?
Laminated safety glass, which does not fly apart when broken, was inspired by which incident?
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