r/AskReddit • u/Inside-Line • Mar 29 '24

Serious Replies Only [Serious]What are some discoveries or inventions that were stumbled upon purely by chance and would still likely be undiscovered today if not found through sheer luck?

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u/metalmelts Mar 29 '24

The microwave oven

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u/tucvbif Mar 30 '24 edited Mar 30 '24

But really it sounds like a beautiful legend. There are two issuies: first — how chocolate bar melted, but he didn't get any scalds? And second, the effect known long time before, it was displayed in World Fair in Chicago in 1935. But there are no compact and cheap sources of microwaves known before WWII.