Sources and Notes
Every story in Nobody Meant To Invent This and Ten More Stories was checked against the sources below before it went to print. Where the familiar version of a story and the record disagree, the book says so. Patent drawings are reproduced from the United States Patent and Trademark Office; advertisements are pre-1930 and in the public domain; photographs are credited where they appear.
If you find an error, please write to hello@longporchbooks.com. Corrections go into the next printing.
Nobody Meant To Invent This
The Candy Bar in Percy Spencer's Pocket
Waltham, Massachusetts · 1945
- https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/how-the-microwave-was-invented-by-accident-180962694/
- https://www.invent.org/inductees/percy-lebaron-spencer
- https://patents.google.com/patent/US2495429A/en
What Ruth Wakefield Did Not Have in the Cupboard
Whitman, Massachusetts · 1938
- https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/the-sweet-story-of-the-chocolate-chip-cookie-180963969/
- https://www.nestleusa.com/brands/baking/toll-house
- https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/ruth-wakefield
The Boy Who Left His Cup on the Porch
Oakland, California · 1905
- https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/popsicle-was-invented-11-year-old-180962122/
- https://patents.google.com/patent/US1505592A/en
- https://www.thoughtco.com/history-of-the-popsicle-1992329
The Batch of Dough the Kellogg Brothers Forgot
Battle Creek, Michigan · 1894
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corn_flakes
- https://patents.google.com/patent/US558393A/en
- https://www.historytoday.com/archive/battle-cornflakes
The General, the Photographer, and a Ton of Tree Sap
Staten Island, New York · 1869
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chewing_gum
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Chicle_Company
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Jack_(gum)
The Barrel Two Chemists Gave Up On
Worcester, England · 1837
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Worcestershire_sauce
- https://moneyweek.com/334870/28-august-1837-lea-perrins-begin-making-worcester-sauce
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Henry_Perrins
The Cook Who Never Claimed It
Saratoga Springs, New York · 1853
- https://www.history.com/articles/who-invented-potato-chip-saratoga
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Speck
- https://brooksidemuseum.org/2013/10/george-crum-and-the-potato-chip/
The Gunk the Oil Workers Kept Wiping Off
Titusville, Pennsylvania · 1859
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Chesebrough
- https://patents.google.com/patent/US127568A/en
- https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/vaseline-inventor-ate-petroleum-jelly-daily/
Two Women in Milwaukee and a Salesman Who Didn't Read His Mail
Milwaukee and New York · 1901 and 1908
- https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/ever-wonder-who-invented-tea-bag-180961469/
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tea_bag
- https://time.com/3996712/a-brief-history-of-the-tea-bag/
The Flask That Broke Wrong
Paris, France · 1903
- https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/history-you-asked/what-safety-glass
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laminated_glass
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triplex_Safety_Glass
The Plate Alexander Fleming Didn't Wash
London, England · 1928
- https://www.asimov.press/p/penicillin-myth
- https://www.understandinganimalresearch.org.uk/human-diseases/penicillin
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penicillium_rubens
The Glue That Wasn't Sticky Enough
St. Paul, Minnesota · 1968
- https://www.npr.org/2014/07/26/335402996/an-idea-that-stuck-how-a-hymnal-bookmark-helped-inspire-the-post-it-note
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-it_note
- https://www.minnpost.com/mnopedia/2016/11/how-failed-glue-experiment-and-church-choir-singer-s-frustration-led-invention-post/
The Floor Cleaner That Invented a Disease
St. Louis, Missouri · 1879
- https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/marketing-campaign-invented-halitosis-180954082/
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Listerine
- https://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/object/nmah_1170944
What Earle Dickson Made for His Wife
New Brunswick, New Jersey · 1920
- https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/get-stuck-band-aid-history-180965157/
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earle_Dickson
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Band-Aid
The Chemist Who Forgot to Wash His Hands
Baltimore, Maryland · 1878
- https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/83730/sweet-and-not-so-sweet-history-saccharin
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constantin_Fahlberg
- https://www.sciencehistory.org/stories/magazine/the-pursuit-of-sweet/
Wilson Greatbatch Reached Into the Wrong Box
Buffalo, New York · 1956
- https://invention.si.edu/invention-stories/innovative-lives-making-hearts-beat-wilson-greatbatch
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilson_Greatbatch
- https://medicine.buffalo.edu/research/research_highlights.host.html/content/shared/smbs/research_highlights/pacemaker.detail.html
The Spring That Walked Off the Table
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania · 1943
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betty_James
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_T._James
- https://www.straightdope.com/21343446/did-the-inventor-of-the-slinky-join-a-cult-in-bolivia
The Spot That Wouldn't Come Off the Shoe
Saint Paul, Minnesota · 1953
- https://invention.si.edu/invention-stories/innovative-lives-patsy-sherman-go-ahead-put-your-feet-furniture
- https://www.invent.org/inductees/patsy-o-sherman
- https://www.startribune.com/patsy-sherman-co-invented-scotchgard/15596637
- https://patents.google.com/patent/US3574791A/en
What the Nursery School Teacher Did With the Wallpaper Cleaner
Dover, New Jersey · 1954
- https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/accidental-invention-play-doh-180973527/
- https://www.museumofplay.org/blog/the-history-of-play-doh-good-clean-fun/
- https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/nytimes/name/kathryn-zufall-obituary?id=23622605
- https://newsroom.hasbro.com/news-releases/news-release-details/hasbro-trademarks-favorite-smell-childhood-play-doh-scent
The Batch That Should Have Gone Down the Drain
Wilmington, Delaware · 1965
- https://www.sciencehistory.org/education/scientific-biographies/stephanie-l-kwolek/
- https://invention.si.edu/invention-stories/innovative-lives-stephanie-kwolek-and-kevlarr-wonder-fiber
- https://www.inventionandtech.com/content/stephanie-kwolek-kevlar
- https://www.invent.org/inductees/stephanie-louise-kwolek
The Burrs He Couldn't Get Off His Trousers
Canton of Vaud, Switzerland · 1941
- https://www.wipo.int/en/web/ip-advantage/w/stories/hooked-on-innovation
- https://patents.google.com/patent/US2717437A/en
- https://invention.si.edu/invention-stories/george-de-mestral-velcror-inventor
- https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/science/how-a-swiss-invention-hooked-the-world/5653568
The Cylinder That Was Full and Empty at Once
Deepwater, New Jersey · 6 April 1938
- https://www.sciencehistory.org/education/scientific-biographies/roy-j-plunkett/
- https://digital.sciencehistory.org/works/0g354g32t
- https://patents.google.com/patent/US2230654A/en
- https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/the-long-strange-history-of-teflon-the-indestructible-product-nothing-seems-to-stick-to-180984920/
The Instrument Fred Joyner Ruined
Kingsport, Tennessee · 1951
- https://www.invent.org/inductees/harry-w-coover
- https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/harry-coover-super-glue-inventor-dies-at-94/2011/03/28/AF20mrqB_story.html
- https://patents.google.com/patent/US2768109A/en
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK532293/
The Fortieth Try, and the Man Who Made It
San Diego, California · 1953
- https://sandiegohistory.org/sites/default/files/journal/v60-4/v60-4engstrand.pdf
- https://wd40company.com/our-company/our-history/
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SM-65_Atlas
- https://fox5sandiego.com/news/business/the-secret-wd-40-formula-lives-in-a-san-diego-bank-vault/
Two Shower Curtains and a Heat Sealer
Hawthorne, New Jersey · 1957
- https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/accidental-invention-bubble-wrap-180971325/
- https://patents.google.com/patent/US3142599A/en
- https://www.stevens.edu/news/pop-sensation-bubble-wrap-appreciation-day-has-stevens-connection
- https://hwfielding.com/2018/04/29/bubble-wrap-begins/
The Man Who Put It in an Egg
New Haven, Connecticut · 1949
- https://www.sciencehistory.org/stories/magazine/a-successful-failure/
- https://patents.google.com/patent/US2431878A/en
- https://patents.google.com/patent/US2541851A/en
- https://www.museumofplay.org/toys/silly-putty/
The Stick John Walker Scraped on His Hearth
Stockton-on-Tees, England · about 1826
- https://pharmaceutical-journal.com/article/opinion/john-walker-pharmacist-and-inventor-of-the-match
- https://phillumeny.com/johnwalker/biography/
- https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/explore-the-collection/stories/1888-matchgirls-strike/
- https://www.tekniskamuseet.se/en/learn-more/swedish-inventors/lundstrom-brothers-safety-match/
The Accident Nobody Can Find
St. Louis, Missouri · 1904
- https://archive.aramcoworld.com/issue/200304/zalabia.and.the.first.ice-cream.cone.htm
- https://www.loc.gov/item/today-in-history/july-23
- https://patents.google.com/patent/US746971A/en
- https://www.europeana.eu/en/stories/agnes-marshall-the-woman-who-invented-the-ice-cream-cone
The Medicine a County Vote Turned Into a Drink
Atlanta, Georgia · 1886
- https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/business-economy/john-stith-pemberton-1831-1888/
- https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/fortuitous-fizz/
- https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/coca-colas-creator-said-drink-would-make-you-smarter-180962665/
- https://guides.loc.gov/this-month-in-business-history/may/first-coca-cola-served
The Steel That Wouldn't Take the Acid
Sheffield, England · August 1913
- https://bssa.org.uk/bssa_articles/the-discovery-of-stainless-steel/
- https://www.sheffieldmuseums.org.uk/burngreave-voices/BrearleyH.html
- https://patents.google.com/patent/US1197256A/en
- https://www.sheffield.gov.uk/sites/default/files/docs/libraries-and-archives/archives-and-local-studies/research/Stainless-Steel-and-Harry-Brearley-v-1-1--PDF--578-KB-.pdf
The Tablecloth That Peeled
Thaon-les-Vosges, France · about 1900
- https://www.invent.org/inductees/jacques-e-brandenberger
- https://www.sciencehistory.org/stories/magazine/cellophane-comes-buffalo/
- https://patents.google.com/patent/US981368A/en
- https://patents.google.com/patent/US1266766A/en
The Screen Across the Room
Würzburg, Germany · 8 November 1895
- https://www.dpma.de/english/our_office/publications/milestones/inventionsthatmadehistory/roentgensx-rays/index.html
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilhelm_R%C3%B6ntgen
- https://medicalmuseum.health.mil/index.cfm/visit/exhibits/virtual/xraydiscovery/index
- https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10685295
The Marks Came Through to the Other Side
Paris · the late 1950s
- https://patents.google.com/patent/US3055113A/en
- https://www.museumofplay.org/toys/etch-a-sketch/
- https://www.history.com/articles/etch-a-sketch-toy-history
- https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/how-the-etch-a-sketch-etched-itself-into-pop-culture-180986970/
Somebody Blew Smoke at the Machine
Lakewood, Colorado · the 1960s
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duane_D._Pearsall
- https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s40038-016-0015-0
- https://archives.wpi.edu/repositories/2/resources/33
- https://patents.google.com/patent/US3735375A/en
The Eighteen-Year-Old Who Was Trying to Cure Malaria
East London · Easter 1856
- https://www.sciencehistory.org/education/scientific-biographies/william-henry-perkin/
- https://www.scienceandindustrymuseum.org.uk/objects-and-stories/perkin-mauve
- https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/how-an-accidental-discovery-in-a-london-lab-changed-fashion-180985064/
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mauveine
Ten More Stories
The Lobby She Could Not Cross
Chicago, Illinois · 1887
- https://patents.google.com/patent/US355139A/en
- https://www.uspto.gov/learning-and-resources/journeys-innovation/historical-stories/ill-do-it-myself
- https://www.invent.org/inductees/josephine-garis-cochran
- https://www.inventionandtech.com/content/josephine-cochrane-inventor-dishwasher
The Machine in the Third Shop
Boston, Massachusetts · 1870
- https://patents.google.com/patent/US116842A/en
- https://patents.google.com/patent/US90624A/en
- https://www.asme.org/topics-resources/content/margaret-knight
- https://libguides.library.umaine.edu/c.php?g=1507795&p=11272553
- https://si.edu/object/patent-model-paper-bag-machine:nmah_214303
The Letter That Said No
New York City · 1902
- https://patents.google.com/patent/US743801A/en
- https://encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/mary-anderson/
- https://www.invent.org/inductees/mary-anderson
- https://www.bhamwiki.com/w/Mary_Anderson_(inventor)
- https://www.npr.org/2017/07/25/536835744/alabama-woman-stuck-in-nyc-traffic-in-1902-invented-the-windshield-wiper
The Man Who Came in Pajamas
Cleveland, Ohio · 1916
- https://patents.google.com/patent/US1113675A/en
- https://www.carnegiehero.org/behind-the-scenes-shedding-light-on-the-complicated-case-of-black-inventor-garrett-morgan/
- https://case.edu/ech/articles/w/waterworks-tunnel-disasters
- https://invention.si.edu/invention-stories/diverse-voices-inventor-garrett-morgan
- https://case.edu/ech/articles/m/morgan-garrett-a
- https://www.biography.com/inventors/a46820069/garrett-morgan-safety-hood-cleveland-tunnel-disaster
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garrett_Morgan
The Shower Curtain in the Bathroom
Westport, Connecticut · 1946
- https://patents.google.com/patent/US2556800A/en
- https://invention.si.edu/invention-stories/papers-illustrate-woman-inventors-life-and-work
- https://www.invent.org/inductees/marion-donovan
- https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/meet-marion-donovan-mother-who-invented-precursor-disposable-diaper-180972118/
The Secretary Who Painted Over It
Dallas, Texas · the early 1950s
- https://www.uspto.gov/learning-and-resources/journeys-innovation/historical-stories/perseverance-thy-name-bette
- https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/graham-bette-clair-mcmurray
- https://lemelson.mit.edu/resources/bette-graham
- https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/liquid-paperback-writer/
The Rivets on His Workbench
Reno, Nevada · 1871
- https://patents.google.com/patent/US139121A/en
- https://prologue.blogs.archives.gov/2010/05/20/forever-in-blue-jeansand-in-court/
- https://www.levistrauss.com/2015/10/08/jacob-davis-6-things-you-probably-didnt-know-about-the-inventor-of-the-blue-jean/
- https://renohistorical.org/items/show/48
- https://www.docsteach.org/documents/document/deposition-of-jacob-w-davis-from-civil-case-files-18531912-case-1211-levi-strauss-et-al-vs-ab-elfelt-et-al
Nobody Would Push It
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma · 1937
- https://patents.google.com/patent/US2155896A/en
- https://patents.google.com/patent/US2196914A/en
- https://si.edu/object/goldmans-folding-basket-carriage:nmah_1216280
- https://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=GO004
The Cake in the Battery Jar
Corning, New York · 1913
- https://pyrex.cmog.org/content/littletons
- https://pyrex.cmog.org/content/beginning-pyrex
- https://www.corning.com/worldwide/en/innovation/culture-of-innovation/legendary-scientists-littleton.html
- https://patents.google.com/patent/US1304623A/en
- https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/how-pyrex-reinvented-glass-new-age-180955513/
- https://blog.cmog.org/2015/women-and-pyrex
The Week the Sun Did Not Come Out
Paris, France · 1896