11 Scientific Discoveries That Were Total Accidents

Stepping way back into history now, we come to a time when chemistry was still that strange mixture of science and magic known as alchemy.

In the quest for eternal life, which was pretty much he main aim of all alchemy, 9th Century Chinese alchemists mixed together saltpeter, sulfur, and charcoal. Far from discovering the elixir of life, they found that this mix is much more likely to shuffle you off the mortal coil than keep you on it. They had invented gunpowder.

As well as allowing them to develop rudimentary hand guns and flamethrowers, the invention of gunpowder also allowed the Chinese to develop fireworks. These were originally created as a way of scaring off evil spirits, but they remain something of a high art form in China to this day.

Over the next few hundred years following its invention, gunpowder essentially ushered in a new age of ever more destructive modern warfare. 

Seeing as it has been responsible for an absolutely astronomical amount of deaths in the 1200 or so years since its discovery, we'd go so far as to say that this is pretty much the opposite of an elixir of life. Good going, Chinese alchemists.