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Many of the things we use every day were never planned. Some of the most useful inventions began with a mistake, or with a person who noticed something strange and did not ignore it.

In the 1940s, Percy Spencer, an American engineer, was working with radar equipment. One day, he noticed that a chocolate bar in his pocket had melted. Instead of forgetting about it, he became curious. He put some corn near the machine, and it turned into popcorn. The first microwave oven was sold in 1947. It was almost two meters tall and weighed more than 300 kilograms, so it was used mainly in restaurants and on ships.

In 1941, George de Mestral, a Swiss engineer, went for a walk in the mountains with his dog. When they came home, his trousers and the dog's fur were covered with burrs. He looked at them under a microscope and saw hundreds of tiny hooks. The hooks caught on small loops in clothes and in fur. It took him years to copy the idea, but in 1955 he received a patent for Velcro. Today it is used on shoes, bags and even space suits.

In 1968, Spencer Silver, a scientist at an American company, was trying to make a very strong glue. Instead, he made a weak one: it stuck to paper, but it could be removed easily. For years, nobody knew what to do with it. Then his colleague, Art Fry, had a problem. The small pieces of paper that he used to mark songs in his book of songs kept falling out. He put some of Silver's glue on them, and they stayed in place. Post-it Notes went on sale across the United States in 1980.

What do these stories have in common? Luck was part of each one, but luck was not enough. Many people have found burrs on their clothes or chocolate in their pockets. These inventors were different because they asked "Why?" and did not give up.

Many of the things we use every day were never planned. Some of the most useful inventions began with a mistake, or with a person who noticed something strange and did not ignore it.

In the 1940s, Percy Spencer, an American engineer, was working with radar equipment. One day, he noticed that a chocolate bar in his pocket had melted. Instead of forgetting about it, he became curious. He put some corn near the machine, and it turned into popcorn. The first microwave oven was sold in 1947. It was almost two meters tall and weighed more than 300 kilograms, so it was used mainly in restaurants and on ships.

In 1941, George de Mestral, a Swiss engineer, went for a walk in the mountains with his dog. When they came home, his trousers and the dog's fur were covered with burrs. He looked at them under a microscope and saw hundreds of tiny hooks. The hooks caught on small loops in clothes and in fur. It took him years to copy the idea, but in 1955 he received a patent for Velcro. Today it is used on shoes, bags and even space suits.

In 1968, Spencer Silver, a scientist at an American company, was trying to make a very strong glue. Instead, he made a weak one: it stuck to paper, but it could be removed easily. For years, nobody knew what to do with it. Then his colleague, Art Fry, had a problem. The small pieces of paper that he used to mark songs in his book of songs kept falling out. He put some of Silver's glue on them, and they stayed in place. Post-it Notes went on sale across the United States in 1980.

What do these stories have in common? Luck was part of each one, but luck was not enough. Many people have found burrs on their clothes or chocolate in their pockets. These inventors were different because they asked "Why?" and did not give up.

Many of the things we use every day were never planned. Some of the most useful inventions began with a mistake, or with a person who noticed something strange and did not ignore it.

In the 1940s, Percy Spencer, an American engineer, was working with radar equipment. One day, he noticed that a chocolate bar in his pocket had melted. Instead of forgetting about it, he became curious. He put some corn near the machine, and it turned into popcorn. The first microwave oven was sold in 1947. It was almost two meters tall and weighed more than 300 kilograms, so it was used mainly in restaurants and on ships.

In 1941, George de Mestral, a Swiss engineer, went for a walk in the mountains with his dog. When they came home, his trousers and the dog's fur were covered with burrs. He looked at them under a microscope and saw hundreds of tiny hooks. The hooks caught on small loops in clothes and in fur. It took him years to copy the idea, but in 1955 he received a patent for Velcro. Today it is used on shoes, bags and even space suits.

In 1968, Spencer Silver, a scientist at an American company, was trying to make a very strong glue. Instead, he made a weak one: it stuck to paper, but it could be removed easily. For years, nobody knew what to do with it. Then his colleague, Art Fry, had a problem. The small pieces of paper that he used to mark songs in his book of songs kept falling out. He put some of Silver's glue on them, and they stayed in place. Post-it Notes went on sale across the United States in 1980.

What do these stories have in common? Luck was part of each one, but luck was not enough. Many people have found burrs on their clothes or chocolate in their pockets. These inventors were different because they asked "Why?" and did not give up.