Some of the surprising revelations behind the world's greatest inventions.
- Ben Franklin's kite was never struck by lightning.
- Western Union laughed at Bell when he offered them the telephone. They thought it was a trivial toy.
- A melted candy bar led to the invention of the microwave oven.
- Scientists bounced Silly Putty around the halls of their laboratory years before anyone thought to sell it.
- The paper industry never would have existed without the wasp.
- The idea of transmitting messages by light (e.g, laser) dates back to the 1880s when Bell designed a contraption called the photophone.
- When Remington introduced the first typewriter, people saw no practical use for it.
- Velcro is science imitating nature.
- Thomas Edison was not the first to invent the light bulb.