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7 Inventions We Use In a Way We Didn't Intend To
26.10.2024 00:30
Some items that we use today have become so commonplace that we don’t even think about their original purpose.
But it was completely different.
Coca-Cola
The creator of the drink, American Civil War veteran John Pemberton, was a pharmacist by profession.
He was wounded in the war and had to take morphine as a painkiller. To get rid of his drug addiction, John invented a drink for himself. He mixed kola nuts, alcohol and coca leaves.
Later, he replaced the alcohol with a mixture of cane sugar. In this form, the drink began to be sold and was loved not only by adults but also by children. Initially, it was not called Coca-Cola, but Pemberton's French Coca-Wine.
WD-40 aerosol
The well-known aerosol preparation was invented by the American military as a water-repellent agent that would protect equipment from rust. But thanks to its amazing properties, it has become widely used in everyday life to solve various problems.
The letters WD are an English abbreviation meaning "water displacement", and the number 40 denotes the number of attempts after which the product was successful. The aerosol consists of various hydrocarbons, its main component is white spirit.
With its help you can easily remove dirt from any surface, tea and ink stains, add shine, clean fabric from chewing gum, make shoes waterproof, protect against insects and spiders.
Spring
The Slinky or Rainbow spring, beloved by children in many countries, was invented after World War II, and not at all as a children's toy. American mechanical engineer Richard James worked on spring suspensions for precision marine instruments.
The springs were supposed to stabilize their position during the rocking. One day he dropped one of the springs on the floor and it started "walking". The resourceful engineer took the thing home and, after consulting with his wife, made a children's toy out of it.
Initially, Slinkies were metallic and one-color, but then they gradually improved and acquired various shades and sizes. The toy became extremely popular all over the world.
Superglue "Moment"
American chemist Harry Coover was looking for a substance to make transparent plastic. It was necessary for creating optical sights. But as a result of his work, he obtained a unique adhesive substance, cyanoacrylate. It stuck tightly to everything it came into contact with. At first, the chemist did not even pay much attention to it, and remembered his research only 9 years later.
At that time, the scientist was working on creating heat-resistant coatings for aircraft. He accidentally remembered his previous research and made superglue based on cyanoacrylate, which only gained popularity and appeared on the market 7 years later.
Viagra tablets
The famous medicine for increasing male potency was intended to treat the heart and blood vessels. It was supposed to disperse stagnant blood, improve blood flow in the heart muscle and, thus, serve as a good preventative for myocardial infarction.
But the active substance sildenafil was not strong enough to affect the heart muscle. But it had side effects - it increased muscle pain and erection. This became its main effect. In 1998, it was registered by Pfizer and brings in 1 to 2 billion in profits per year.
High heel shoes
It's hard to imagine, but it turns out that high heels weren't meant for the fair sex. High-heeled boots were originally invented for Turkish soldiers back in the 16th century.
When shooting from a bow while riding a horse, heels helped them to maintain stability. But after a hundred years, women noticed this feature and took it into service. The privilege of wearing high-heeled shoes initially belonged only to ladies from the elite class, but then spread to the whole society.
Bubble wrap
The beloved package from parcels was originally intended to serve as wallpaper for pasting walls! In 1957, two young men – Mark Schwan and Alfred Fielding wanted to invent unusual washable wallpaper.
Experimenting, they glued layers of polyethylene together. But their invention did not gain popularity as wallpaper. Then they suggested using such a film to cover greenhouses. But they did not find support here either.
After some time, the computer company IBM used bubble wrap to pack its products. Since it was very suitable for transportation, it began to be used everywhere. For some, this film serves as an anti-stress - they simply enjoy popping bubbles.
There can be many such things in our lives. Getting used to using some objects, we sometimes do not even think about why they were invented and where they came from in our lives.
