Throughout history there have occurred accidents that have brought wonderful ideas and technology into the world. These happy little accidents can seem insignificant, but have wonderful ramifications. A common snack that can be located in nearly every American kitchen, the potato chip, was an accident out of spite, and one of the more famous events is the accidental discovery of penicillin.
Potato Chip
As many things go down, the story of the potato chip may be more legend than fact. It states that in Saratoga Springs in the year 1853, there was a rather annoying customer in a restaurant (Breyer, 2017). This customer repeatedly returned the food that George “Speck” Crum had prepared back to the kitchen stating that patron was dissatisfied with the food. Upon the return of the food a third time and wishing to import his frustration onto the customer, Mr. Crum decided to maliciously slice the potato into small slivers, severely fried the Irish staple, and heavily salt the dish. This deep fried delight was enjoyed by the patron who ordered another round of the dish. In later history, Harvard University would discover that this delicious side is the number one reason for weight gain in the United States (Breyer, 2017).
Penicillin
The accidental discovery of penicillin dates back to September 28th, 1928 (History.com Editors, 2020). What has been shared through time is that a young Sir Alexander Fleming, who was a bacteriologist performing research at Saint Mary’s Hospital in London, England (Hamer, 2019), left plate of staphylococcus bacteria uncovered. Some time after the knight observed that mold had fallen onto the plate. The bacteria on the plate had been killed by this accident. Later, he would identify the mold as penicillium notatum, which is similar to the type of mold that can develop on bread. He would take this discover and introduce penicillin to the world. This mold by-product would be henceforth used to cure bacterial infections.
Penicillin became the first antibiotic that doctors used. Later it would be discovered that there are several antibiotics in the penicillin class (Newman, 2018). The first civilian human test subject for this drug was Anne Miller. She was suffering a major bacterial infection due to a miscarriage and it is believed that she would have passed if not for this experiment. While Sir Fleming is credited with the discovery, Howard Florey, Norman Heatley, and Ernst Chain are credited with performing the deep lab analysis of the new drug and bringing it into production. This discovery was so monumental that Sir Fleming received the 1945 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (Nobel Media AB 2021, 2021). This discovery is credited with saving thousands of lives, and opening the door for the discovery of more antibiotics.
References
Breyer, M. (2017, Jun 05). 10 Accidental Inventions That Changed the World. Retrieved from Treehugger: https://www.treehugger.com/accidental-inventions-that-changed-the-world-4864131
Hamer, A. (2019, Aug 01). Alexander Fleming's Accidental Discovery Of Penicillin. Retrieved from Discovery: https://www.discovery.com/science/Alexander-Fleming-Discovery-Of-Penicillin
History.com Editors. (2020, Sep 25). Penicillin discovered by Sir Alexander Fleming. Retrieved from History: https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/penicillin-discovered
Newman, T. (2018, Jul 30). How do penicillins work? Retrieved from Medical News Today: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/216798
Nobel Media AB 2021. (2021, Mar 16). Sir Alexander Fleming – Biographical. Retrieved from NobelPrize.org: https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/1945/fleming/biographical
Potato Chip
As many things go down, the story of the potato chip may be more legend than fact. It states that in Saratoga Springs in the year 1853, there was a rather annoying customer in a restaurant (Breyer, 2017). This customer repeatedly returned the food that George “Speck” Crum had prepared back to the kitchen stating that patron was dissatisfied with the food. Upon the return of the food a third time and wishing to import his frustration onto the customer, Mr. Crum decided to maliciously slice the potato into small slivers, severely fried the Irish staple, and heavily salt the dish. This deep fried delight was enjoyed by the patron who ordered another round of the dish. In later history, Harvard University would discover that this delicious side is the number one reason for weight gain in the United States (Breyer, 2017).
Penicillin
The accidental discovery of penicillin dates back to September 28th, 1928 (History.com Editors, 2020). What has been shared through time is that a young Sir Alexander Fleming, who was a bacteriologist performing research at Saint Mary’s Hospital in London, England (Hamer, 2019), left plate of staphylococcus bacteria uncovered. Some time after the knight observed that mold had fallen onto the plate. The bacteria on the plate had been killed by this accident. Later, he would identify the mold as penicillium notatum, which is similar to the type of mold that can develop on bread. He would take this discover and introduce penicillin to the world. This mold by-product would be henceforth used to cure bacterial infections.
Penicillin became the first antibiotic that doctors used. Later it would be discovered that there are several antibiotics in the penicillin class (Newman, 2018). The first civilian human test subject for this drug was Anne Miller. She was suffering a major bacterial infection due to a miscarriage and it is believed that she would have passed if not for this experiment. While Sir Fleming is credited with the discovery, Howard Florey, Norman Heatley, and Ernst Chain are credited with performing the deep lab analysis of the new drug and bringing it into production. This discovery was so monumental that Sir Fleming received the 1945 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (Nobel Media AB 2021, 2021). This discovery is credited with saving thousands of lives, and opening the door for the discovery of more antibiotics.
References
Breyer, M. (2017, Jun 05). 10 Accidental Inventions That Changed the World. Retrieved from Treehugger: https://www.treehugger.com/accidental-inventions-that-changed-the-world-4864131
Hamer, A. (2019, Aug 01). Alexander Fleming's Accidental Discovery Of Penicillin. Retrieved from Discovery: https://www.discovery.com/science/Alexander-Fleming-Discovery-Of-Penicillin
History.com Editors. (2020, Sep 25). Penicillin discovered by Sir Alexander Fleming. Retrieved from History: https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/penicillin-discovered
Newman, T. (2018, Jul 30). How do penicillins work? Retrieved from Medical News Today: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/216798
Nobel Media AB 2021. (2021, Mar 16). Sir Alexander Fleming – Biographical. Retrieved from NobelPrize.org: https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/1945/fleming/biographical
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