1. Popsicles were invented by Frank Epperson in 1905 when he was 11 years old. After receiving some sugary mixture, he accidentally left it outside overnight, and the stick he had used to stir the soda had frozen into the mixture. Thus, the popsicle was born.
In 1905, Frank Epperson, a San Francisco Bay resident, was only 11 years old when he received some soda-making equipment. Excited to make some sugary soda, a young Epperson mixed the soda powder with water and accidentally left it out overnight. The night was cold and caused his soda mixture to be frozen by morning. When Epperson went to get it, he noticed that the stick he was using to stir it had also frozen into the mixture. Epperson picked up his accidental invention and named it Epsicle. He then started selling the treat around his neighborhood.
In 1923, he decided to expand his business out of his neighborhood and into the whole world. After selling it at nearby beaches, he found that people were falling in love with his invention. So, in 1924, Epperson applied for a patent for his “frozen confection”, which explained that the treat was easily consumable without the need for a spoon or fork. After patenting his product, his children urged him to change the name from Epsicle to Popsicle; which he did.
2. Chocolate chip cookies were invented by Ruth Wakefield in 1930 when she ran out of baker’s chocolate and instead, added some Nestle chocolate to the cookie batter.
Chocolate chip cookies are favored by almost all of us. However, it’s inventor, Ruth Wakefield, did not mean to make it. Ruth and her husband purchased a tourist lodge named the Toll House Inn during the mid 1920’s, and for the guests, she prepared some delicious meals. In 1930, she was mixing a batch of cookies for her new guests when she ran out of baker’s chocolate, one of the main ingredients. With little time on her hands, Ruth decided to improvise and substituted broken pieces of Nestle’s semi-sweet chocolate.
She believed that the pieces of chocolate would melt and absorb into the dough to create chocolate cookies. That however, did not happen and in turn, created something new. When she removed the pan from the oven, Ruth realized that she had accidentally invented “chocolate chip cookies”. After serving the cookies to the guests who loved her invention, she called it the “Toll House Crunch Cookies”. After the cookies became extremely popular among the locals, Nestle discovered that their sales of semi-sweet chocolate bars were spiking. So, Nestle struck up a deal with Ruth and printed her recipe on their Nestle supply package. In return, she received a lifetime supply of Nestle chocolate, also making her one of the 20th century’s most famous female inventors.
3. Coffee was discovered by a goat herder named Kaldi, after noticing that one of his goats who was eating a berry, was extremely excited and not sleeping.
For some of us,
coffee is the only thing that keeps us going. The discovery of this life giving substance was in fact an accidental one. During the 9th century, a goat herder named Kaldi came across the potential of coffee beans by chance. Kaldi noticed that one of his goats was regularly consuming some berries, which made him extremely hyper as well as awake at night.
He reported his findings to an abbot of the local monastery, who wanted to verify Kaldi’s story.
The abbot made a drink using the berries and found that it kept him alert for long hours, especially during the evening prayers. The abbot then shared his findings with a monk, who then spread the news to the town locals. Today, coffee is the most popular beverage in the world, with more than 400 billion cups consumed each year. More than 450 million cups of coffee are consumed in the United States every day.
4. Potato chips were discovered in 1853 by George Crum, who was a chef. When one of his customers complained that his order of fried potatoes were extremely thick, and sent the order back to the kitchen more than three times, Crum became unhappy and sliced it as thin as he possibly could. The customer loved them, and this new food was named the potato chip.
George Crum, an American native, invented the famous potato chips that we enjoy today. After becoming a chef, Crum was working in the kitchen of the restaurant at Moon’s Lake House, when he received an order for fried potatoes. Crum prepared the dish and to his surprise, the customer sent it back to the kitchen, asking the chef to slice it thinner. The customer complained two more times and sent his food back to the kitchen. Crum became unhappy with the customer and decided to slice the potato as thin as possible, in an effort to make it hard for the complaining customer.
To his surprise, the customer fell in love with his new creation. The dish became extremely popular among the customers and when Crum opened his own restaurant, potato chips were the main feature.