1Nutella
Nutella was invented during World War 2 when an Italian pastry maker mixed hazelnuts into chocolate to extend his chocolate ration.
2. The U-bend (P-trap without a 90-degree bend) used in toilets and sinks to prevent sewage gasses from entering the house was invented by a man named Thomas Crapper.
3. Pythagoras invented a practical joke cup that would spill wine all over a person if they filled their cup too much.
4. Viagra was invented by accident. It was originally developed as a medication used for lowering high blood pressure. It failed to achieve this purpose and was discontinued. When test subjects were asked to return their unused medicine, however, they all refused.
5. The waterbed was invented in 1833 by a Scottish Physician. He intentionally did not patent it so that anyone could design their own variation of the waterbed and it could help as many people as it could who were suffering from bedsores.
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6Alexander Graham Bell
Alexander Graham Bell invented the metal detector to try and find the bullet lodged in President James Garfield. The device worked but had interference from the metal springs in the bed. The chief physician only allowed a search of the right side of the body. The bullet was on the left side.
7. Louis Braille was blinded as a boy when using an awl. At the age of 15, also using an awl, he invented a reading system for the blind. It was never adopted during his lifetime, but after his death, it grew to worldwide popularity and is now known as "braille."
8. Pad Thai, the national dish of Thailand, is actually not a traditional dish, but was invented, standardized, and promoted by the Thai government, and imposed upon the people, as part of a broad cultural effort to establish a sense of national identity.
9. Scott Stillinger, the guy who invented the koosh ball, invented it because his own child was having trouble catching a ball.
10. The football huddle was invented at Gallaudet University, an all-deaf school, to prevent opposing teams from seeing their signs.
11Doritos
Doritos were originally Disneyland trash. In the early days of Disneyland, a restaurant named Casa de Fritos invented Doritos by repurposing stale tortillas they bought from a local vendor. The chips proved to be so popular they were eventually rolled out nationally by Frito-Lay in 1966.
12. The gin and tonic were invented as a result of the British being unable to stomach the taste of bitter malaria medication in India.
13. Duct tape was invented by Vesta Stoudt, a factory worker during World War 2 and the mother of two sons in the Navy. When her supervisors at the factory dismissed her idea for a stronger cloth-based tape, she wrote a letter to President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who then ordered Johnson&Johnson to manufacture her idea.
14. A German soldier named Artur Fischer survived Stalingrad on the last plane out. After the war, he went on to invent many ubiquitous items such as the synchronized camera flash and the plastic wall anchor and held over 1100 patents before dying at the age of 96.
15. Martin Couney, an owner of a freak show in the early 1900s invented an incubator to exhibit premature babies. In doing so, he saved thousands of lives and marked the start of advanced prenatal care for preemies.
16Filet o' Fish
The Filet o' Fish was invented so Catholics could eat at McDonald's on Fridays.
17. Bette Graham became a typist to support herself and her son Michael in 1951. She was a poor typist and invented a white tempera paint to cover her mistakes. This led to her business Liquid Paper Company which she sold 25 years later for $48 million. Michael went on to become a member of The Monkees.
18. Charles Darwin’s cousin, Sir Francis Galton, who invented the dog whistle, meteorology, forensic fingerprinting, mathematical correlation, the concept of “eugenics” and “nature vs nurture”, and the concept of inherited intelligence, had an estimated IQ of 200.
19. William Phelps Eno, the person who invented the stop sign, the pedestrian crosswalk, the traffic circle, the one-way street, the taxi stand, and pedestrian safety islands, never learned how to drive.
20. The plasma globe was invented accidentally by an MIT undergrad, who was working in a lab to create electrical rocket engines. Right after inventing it, he naturally brought it to his girlfriend's house party.
21Revolving door
The revolving door was invented because the inventor disliked the social convention of men holding doors for women.
22. A man named Momofuku Ando is credited with helping end Japan's post-war food shortage by inventing instant ramen. He was born Taiwanese and didn’t become a Japanese citizen until 1966.
23. The jacuzzi was invented by Candido Jacuzzi to provide pain relief for his 15-month-old son, Kenny Jacuzzi, who was born with rheumatoid arthritis.
24. The stethoscope was invented because a French doctor felt uncomfortable placing his face on a younger woman's chest.
25. The webcam was invented just because 3 people wanted to keep a check on coffee level without walking to their breakroom.
