00:00 In 1968, a chemist named Spencer Silver was working for a company.
00:05 His task was to create a new adhesive that was strong and powerful.
00:09 It had to be much better than anything available at the time.
00:13 After a lot of experimentation, Spencer ended up with an adhesive that stuck,
00:18 but which was also easy to remove.
00:20 At that moment, he probably felt like he had failed.
00:24 But he didn't know he was going to change the history of adhesive notes forever.
00:28 He created the Post-It.
00:30 Cornflakes were also created by accident.
00:37 Dr. Kellogg experimented with various cereals.
00:40 It's a bit vague when it comes to determining the exact moment
00:43 when Kellogg's cornflakes were invented.
00:46 Several family members and Sanatorium employees
00:49 claim the paternity of the creation.
00:51 According to the company's history, in 1898,
00:55 a cereal dough made from wheat was accidentally left aside for a long time.
01:01 This caused the dough to ferment.
01:03 It was then spread out in thin sheets and cooked.
01:06 The slightly moldy dough produced large, thin flakes
01:10 that were crispy and tasty.
01:13 Over time, it was discovered that corn produced even crispier flakes than wheat.
01:19 By 1909, Will's company produced 120,000 boxes of cornflakes a day.
01:25 Some kitchen appliances were also created by chance.
01:31 Percy Spencer was an engineer working on radar equipment.
01:35 One ordinary day, while he was working,
01:37 he happened to have a bar of chocolate in the pocket of his jacket.
01:40 At some point, it started to melt.
01:43 It made him think.
01:45 Could it be the microwaves from the radar's magnetron that caused it?
01:49 To test his theory, he took a few corn kernels
01:52 and, one by one, looked at them and burst.
01:55 In a blink of an eye, Percy developed the very first microwave oven
01:59 that was put on the market in 1946.
02:02 It's incredible how a melted chocolate bar
02:05 led to the invention of something that revolutionized cooking.
02:08 In 1938, there was a chemist named Roy Plunkett.
02:13 He was trying to develop a new type of refrigerant,
02:16 something unexpected for his products.
02:18 By playing with gas, he noticed that it was turning into a solid and syrupy substance.
02:24 This accident led to the creation of polytetrafluoroethylene,
02:28 or what we now call Teflon.
02:30 We thank him for the pans in our kitchens.
02:33 However, this material is actually used in various industries.
02:37 I mean, it is even used as a protective coating on space ships.
02:43 Another huge discovery was made in 1921.
02:47 Two scientists managed to isolate the insulin in a dog's pancreas.
02:52 This marked a turning point in the treatment of diabetes.
02:55 This problem has existed for a very long time, more than 3,000 years.
02:59 The oldest recording we have is in a papyrus manuscript dating from 1500 BC.
03:05 Now, let's go back to insulin and pancreas.
03:08 In the 19th century, an experiment was carried out to remove all the pancreas from a dog.
03:14 These dogs developed severe diabetes, just like humans.
03:19 This was a surprise because, at the time,
03:22 scientists thought that pancreas had nothing to do with diabetes.
03:27 Meanwhile, the first antibiotic in the world also appeared by pure chance.
03:32 In 1928, bacteriologist Alexander Fleming came back from vacation.
03:37 He realized that he had forgotten to clean one of the plates he used in the laboratory.
03:43 He discovered mold growing on this forgotten plate.
03:46 It turned out that the mold had involuntarily contaminated the dish.
03:50 When the scientist looked closer,
03:52 he noticed that the area around the mold was completely free of bacteria.
03:57 He called his discovery "penicillin",
03:59 according to the species of Penicillium notatum mushroom.
04:02 Today, penicillin is the most commonly used antibiotic in the world.
04:07 A pharmacist named John Walker was conducting chemical experiments
04:13 when he accidentally scratched a tinned stick.
04:16 To his great surprise, the stick caught fire.
04:19 This gave Walker an idea.
04:21 In 1827, he began to sell friction matches in his pharmacy.
04:26 Walker's matches were cardboard sticks
04:29 coated with potassium chloride and antimony sulfur.
04:32 They caught fire when they were rubbed against glass paper.
04:36 Walker's invention quickly gained popularity.
04:39 But he made an unusual choice.
04:41 He did not patent it.
04:43 As a result, others copied his design and began to sell their version.
04:47 Over time, they eclipsed his role as an original inventor.
04:51 Unfortunately for his survivor,
04:53 he did not receive recognition as the creator of the first friction match.
04:57 Some accidental inventions can be as small as a matchbox.
05:02 And others can be as big as a ship.
05:05 In 1982, near Cache, in southern Turkey,
05:09 a sponge diver came across something incredible.
05:13 It was an ancient wreck from the late 14th century BC.
05:17 He first discovered a few objects
05:19 and described them as "metal biscuits with ears".
05:25 Interestingly, experts later identified these objects as "oxygen lingots".
05:32 This discovery aroused the excitement of archaeologists.
05:36 They sent a team to investigate more on the site of the wreck.
05:40 Over the next decade, 11 expeditions took place, each for a few months.
05:46 The divers made more than 22,000 dives during this period.
05:52 They discovered an extraordinary collection of artifacts from the Bronze Age.
05:57 The ship itself was about 10 meters long.
06:00 The most likely route of the ship was from Cyprus or Syria, to Greece.
06:05 Its mission was to deliver goods.
06:07 Among the cargoes, there were tons of copper and lingots,
06:11 as well as gold and silver jewels, tools and various edible goods.
06:17 Today, you can see the incredible artifacts of the wreck
06:20 at the Baudrum Museum of Underwater Archaeology.
06:23 They even rebuilt the ship.
06:26 In 2017, something unusual happened in Portugal.
06:33 A man discovered what is probably the largest skeleton of a dinosaur in Europe.
06:39 He was working on constructions in his garden,
06:42 when he came across fossilized bone fragments.
06:45 A team of researchers started working.
06:48 It was rare to find massive dinosaur bones so well preserved.
06:52 They even found all the ribs still in their original anatomical positions.
06:56 This dino was part of a species that traveled the Earth about 100 million years ago.
07:02 There could be other parts of the dinosaur skeleton nearby.
07:06 This means that the experts must continue to dig.
07:12 Speaking of people discovering incredible things in their garden,
07:16 we should look at Berinkuyu.
07:19 This place is located in Turkey, in Cappadocia.
07:22 This place is known for its striking chimneys and its colorful hills.
07:26 There is also a hidden city that has been hidden for centuries.
07:30 This underground structure extends over 85 meters below the surface.
07:35 It has a complex labyrinth of 18 levels of tunnels.
07:39 It is the most widely excavated underground city in the world.
07:43 Its history is also very rich.
07:45 It changed hands, from the Persians to the Byzantines.
07:48 The city was a sanctuary for up to 20,000 people,
07:52 providing shelter for prolonged periods.
07:55 This amazing discovery did not take place until 1963.
07:59 A local resident stumbled upon the place while looking for his lost hens.
08:04 When he renovated his house, his hens continued to disappear into a new space.
08:09 After a thorough examination and some digging, the man discovered a hidden tunnel.
08:14 It was only the beginning.
08:15 More than 600 similar entrances were discovered later.
08:19 The Hittites were often credited with building the oldest levels.
08:24 Today, we think that the Phrygians, skilled architects of the Iron Age,
08:28 played a significant role in the expansion of the underground city.
08:34 Finally, there is a natural medicine called quinine,
08:38 which comes from the bark of the tree in Kinkina.
08:41 People have been using it to fight malaria since the 16th century.
08:45 Legend has it that an indigenous man may have started using it even earlier.
08:51 History tells that a man with a severe fever got lost in the jungle.
08:56 He must have drunk water from a pond surrounded by trees, in Kina Kina.
09:00 He thought he was poisoned, but surprisingly, he recovered.
09:05 After that, his whole village started using the bark of Kina Kina.
09:09 Malaria is still a major concern today.
09:12 People have tried to make quinine in laboratories because it is very useful.
09:17 In 1820, some scientists discovered how to obtain quinine from the bark of Kinkina.
09:23 However, it took more than 100 years for the chemists to obtain the exact chemical structure of quinine.
09:30 It was a breakthrough in the world of chemistry.
