11 Scientific Discoveries That Were Total Accidents

10. Shatterproof Glass

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The fact that you can merrily run a cyclist over in your car, and not be showered with glass when he hits the windshield, is all down to a serendipitous discovery made in 1903.

A chemist called Edouard Benedictus, in addition to possessing a most excellent name, can be credited with discovering toughened glass, even if it was an accident. He had been clearing away after another long day of making plastics, when he dropped a flask. When it hit the floor, however, the glass flask didn't shatter into a million tiny shards. It cracked, but it held its shape.

This is due to a thin layer of cellulose nitrate that had dried on the inside of it, forming a protective film that held it together.

Seeing as one of the major causes of death and injury in those days was due to flying shards of glass in road traffic accidents, Edouard saw the possible life-saving potential of his discovery and set to work.

In 1909 he patented his Triplex safety glass which consisted of a sheet of plastic sandwiched between two panes of glass. Unfortunately, the glass was time-consuming and expensive to make and car companies were reluctant to use it, because who cares about your customers dying in eviscerated agony when you could save money?

Its first widespread use was in the eye holes of gas masks during the first world war, and then it was eventually adopted by the automobile industry as production costs went down.

 
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