Accidental Inventions
NEXT EPSIODE FEB 24
Accidental Inventions
Crisps
George Crum
George Crum (born George Speck;[1] c. 1828 – July 22, 1914)[2] was a mixed-race African/Native American trapper and guide in the Adirondacks, who became renowned for his culinary skills after becoming a cook and restaurant owner in Saratoga Springs, New York. By 1860 he owned Crum's House, a popular lakeside restaurant in nearby Malta.
Hotel chef George Crum enjoyed a wonderful knack for cooking. From his kitchen at Moon's Lake House near Saratoga Springs, N.Y., Mr. Crum could "take anything edible and transform it into a dish fit for a king." That skill came in handy – the upscale Lake House attracted customers who were used to being treated like kings.
In 1853, a cranky guest complained about Crum's fried potatoes. They were too thick, he said. Too soggy and bland. The patron demanded a new batch.
Crum did not take this well. He decided to play a trick on the diner. The chef sliced a potato paper-thin, fried it until a fork could shatter the thing, and then purposefully over-salted his new creation. The persnickety guest will hate this, he thought. But the plan backfired. The guy loved it! He ordered a second serving.
The first potato chip factory was built in 1895 by William Tappenden in Cleveland, OH. He funded the remodeling of his barn into a factory with the profits he made by delivering potato chips to grocery stores.
It takes 1,000 pounds of potatoes to make 350 pounds of potato chips.
Pringles are made from mashed potatoes that have been dehydrated and reconstituted into a dough.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbbsbE2mQuA
Super glue
Harry Coover
Super Glue, also known as cyanoacrylate, was originally discovered in 1942 by Dr. Harry Coover, who by the way died last month on March 26th, 2011. Coover was attempting to make clear plastic gun sights to be put on guns used by Allied soldiers in WWII. One particular formulation he came up with didn’t work well for gun sights, but worked fantastically as an extremely quick bonding adhesive.
X RAYS
The first X-ray device was discovered accidentally by the German scientist Wilhelm Roentgen (1845-1923) in 1895. He found that a cathode-ray tube emitted invisible rays that could penetrate paper and wood. The rays caused a screen of fluorescent material several yards away to glow. Roentgen used his device to examine the bone structure of the human hand.
First x ray photo Wilhelm Röntgen
Upon their discovery in 1895, X-rays were advertised as the new scientific wonder and were seized upon by entertainers. Circus patrons could view their own skeletons and were given pictures of their own bony hands wearing silhouetted jewelry. Many people were fascinated by this discovery. Some people, however, feared that it would allow strangers to look through walls and doors and eliminate privacy.HOW X RAYS WORK SHORT VIDEo
X Rays Work - YouTube
MICROWAVE
In 1945, the American engineer, Percy Spencer was carrying out maintenance work on a live radar set. Whilst working within close proximity to the radar equipment, he felt a tingling sensation throughout his body and noticed that a chocolate bar in his pocket had completely melted. After some investigation he determined that it was the microwaves being emitted by the magnetron tube in the radar set which had caused the chocolate to get warm enough to melt.
Percy Spencer experimented further by directing the magnetron tube at kernels of corn. Activating the gun resulted in just what he was hoping – the first microwave popcorn. Percy Spencer then went on to build a metal box with an opening on one side and the magnetron tube poking through into another side of it. He used this box to heat his lunches and a variety of other foods he was curious enough to try out. There’s a story of an occasion where he heated a whole egg in the device which unfortunately resulted in the egg exploding in his colleague’s face. This incident led to the addition of a door to close the box and prevent any further such incidents.
Did you know however that the first microwave ovens were already commercially available way back in 1947? These early appliances known then as RadaRanges cost around $5000 US, weighed approximately 650kg and stood 1.6m tall!
TO THIS
KELLOGS CORN FLAKES
If you've never been aroused by the sight of a box of Kellogg's Corn Flakes, then you're probably completely normal and have nothing to worry about. At least according to Dr. John Harvey Kellogg, that is
KELLOGGS BROTHERS
Dr john Kellogg with his younger brother Keith Kellogg
In the young United States, one of the most ardent anti-masturbaters was a Michigan physician named John Harvey Kellogg. The good doctor was a bit uncomfortable about sex, thinking it detrimental to physical, emotional and spiritual well-being. He personally abstained from it, and never consummated his marriage (and may have actually spent his honeymoon working on one of his anti-sex books). He and his wife kept separate bedrooms and adopted all of their children.
Enter Dr. John Harvey Kellogg. Kellogg was the superintendent of Battle Creek Sanitarium,
This is where Corn Flakes come in. Amongst the various measures that Kellogg resorted to in order to curb passions he relied most heavily upon the vegetarian diet,
Will Keith Kellogg, had accidentally created after toasting some stale cooked wheat. Kellogg believed that this product, that they called “Corn Flakes†acted as an anaphrodisiac, greatly decreasing the sex drives of those who consumed it.
while John held firm in his anti-sweet beliefs. The result was Will’s formation of the Battle Creek Toasted Corn Flake Company in 1906, which went on to become the multi-billion dollar Kellogg Company
John Harvey Kellogg spent the rest of his life practicing medicine, treating such notable figures as President William Howard Taft, aviator Amelia Earhart, Nobel prize-winning playwright George Bernard Shaw, founder of Ford Motor Company Henry Ford, and inventor Thomas Edison. Following Freud’s studies in human sexuality, and other studies in human sexual psychology in the first half of the twentieth century, it appears that Kellogg dropped his obsession with the evils of sex, focusing mainly on establishing healthy eating habits with his patients. He died in 1943 at the age of 91. Â
Accidental Inventions
Crisps
George Crum
George Crum (born George Speck;[1] c. 1828 – July 22, 1914)[2] was a mixed-race African/Native American trapper and guide in the Adirondacks, who became renowned for his culinary skills after becoming a cook and restaurant owner in Saratoga Springs, New York. By 1860 he owned Crum's House, a popular lakeside restaurant in nearby Malta.
Hotel chef George Crum enjoyed a wonderful knack for cooking. From his kitchen at Moon's Lake House near Saratoga Springs, N.Y., Mr. Crum could "take anything edible and transform it into a dish fit for a king." That skill came in handy – the upscale Lake House attracted customers who were used to being treated like kings.
In 1853, a cranky guest complained about Crum's fried potatoes. They were too thick, he said. Too soggy and bland. The patron demanded a new batch.
Crum did not take this well. He decided to play a trick on the diner. The chef sliced a potato paper-thin, fried it until a fork could shatter the thing, and then purposefully over-salted his new creation. The persnickety guest will hate this, he thought. But the plan backfired. The guy loved it! He ordered a second serving.
The first potato chip factory was built in 1895 by William Tappenden in Cleveland, OH. He funded the remodeling of his barn into a factory with the profits he made by delivering potato chips to grocery stores.
It takes 1,000 pounds of potatoes to make 350 pounds of potato chips.
Pringles are made from mashed potatoes that have been dehydrated and reconstituted into a dough.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbbsbE2mQuA
Super glue
Harry Coover
Super Glue, also known as cyanoacrylate, was originally discovered in 1942 by Dr. Harry Coover, who by the way died last month on March 26th, 2011. Coover was attempting to make clear plastic gun sights to be put on guns used by Allied soldiers in WWII. One particular formulation he came up with didn’t work well for gun sights, but worked fantastically as an extremely quick bonding adhesive.
X RAYS
The first X-ray device was discovered accidentally by the German scientist Wilhelm Roentgen (1845-1923) in 1895. He found that a cathode-ray tube emitted invisible rays that could penetrate paper and wood. The rays caused a screen of fluorescent material several yards away to glow. Roentgen used his device to examine the bone structure of the human hand.
First x ray photo Wilhelm Röntgen
Upon their discovery in 1895, X-rays were advertised as the new scientific wonder and were seized upon by entertainers. Circus patrons could view their own skeletons and were given pictures of their own bony hands wearing silhouetted jewelry. Many people were fascinated by this discovery. Some people, however, feared that it would allow strangers to look through walls and doors and eliminate privacy.HOW X RAYS WORK SHORT VIDEo
X Rays Work - YouTube
MICROWAVE
In 1945, the American engineer, Percy Spencer was carrying out maintenance work on a live radar set. Whilst working within close proximity to the radar equipment, he felt a tingling sensation throughout his body and noticed that a chocolate bar in his pocket had completely melted. After some investigation he determined that it was the microwaves being emitted by the magnetron tube in the radar set which had caused the chocolate to get warm enough to melt.
Percy Spencer experimented further by directing the magnetron tube at kernels of corn. Activating the gun resulted in just what he was hoping – the first microwave popcorn. Percy Spencer then went on to build a metal box with an opening on one side and the magnetron tube poking through into another side of it. He used this box to heat his lunches and a variety of other foods he was curious enough to try out. There’s a story of an occasion where he heated a whole egg in the device which unfortunately resulted in the egg exploding in his colleague’s face. This incident led to the addition of a door to close the box and prevent any further such incidents.
Did you know however that the first microwave ovens were already commercially available way back in 1947? These early appliances known then as RadaRanges cost around $5000 US, weighed approximately 650kg and stood 1.6m tall!
TO THIS
KELLOGS CORN FLAKES
If you've never been aroused by the sight of a box of Kellogg's Corn Flakes, then you're probably completely normal and have nothing to worry about. At least according to Dr. John Harvey Kellogg, that is
KELLOGGS BROTHERS
Dr john Kellogg with his younger brother Keith Kellogg
In the young United States, one of the most ardent anti-masturbaters was a Michigan physician named John Harvey Kellogg. The good doctor was a bit uncomfortable about sex, thinking it detrimental to physical, emotional and spiritual well-being. He personally abstained from it, and never consummated his marriage (and may have actually spent his honeymoon working on one of his anti-sex books). He and his wife kept separate bedrooms and adopted all of their children.
Enter Dr. John Harvey Kellogg. Kellogg was the superintendent of Battle Creek Sanitarium,
This is where Corn Flakes come in. Amongst the various measures that Kellogg resorted to in order to curb passions he relied most heavily upon the vegetarian diet,
Will Keith Kellogg, had accidentally created after toasting some stale cooked wheat. Kellogg believed that this product, that they called “Corn Flakes†acted as an anaphrodisiac, greatly decreasing the sex drives of those who consumed it.
while John held firm in his anti-sweet beliefs. The result was Will’s formation of the Battle Creek Toasted Corn Flake Company in 1906, which went on to become the multi-billion dollar Kellogg Company
John Harvey Kellogg spent the rest of his life practicing medicine, treating such notable figures as President William Howard Taft, aviator Amelia Earhart, Nobel prize-winning playwright George Bernard Shaw, founder of Ford Motor Company Henry Ford, and inventor Thomas Edison. Following Freud’s studies in human sexuality, and other studies in human sexual psychology in the first half of the twentieth century, it appears that Kellogg dropped his obsession with the evils of sex, focusing mainly on establishing healthy eating habits with his patients. He died in 1943 at the age of 91. Â
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