"Everything comes to him who hustles while he waits," Thomas Edison once said. But is hustling all it takes? Is progress always deliberate? Sometimes genius arrives not by choice—but by chance. Below are our ten favorite serendipitous innovations.
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The Microwave - Percy L. Spencer

Saccharin - Ira Remsen, Constantin Fahlberg

Slinky - Richard James

Play-Doh - Kutol Products

Super Glue - Harry Coover

Teflon - Roy Plunkett

Bakelite - Leo Baekeland

Pacemaker - Wilson Greatbatch

Velcro - George de Mestral
