Read the article. Choose True or False for each statement.

Invented by mistake!

 Amazingly many of the everyday items we use were invented by accident. Yes! By accident. Not all inventions are carefully planned. Some examples of accidental inventions include Teflon, saccharin, cornflakes, popsicles, post-it notes, Velcro, and safety glass.

Let’s look at Velcro as an example. Most of us use Velcro every day and take it for granted? But it was invented quite by chance. A man named George De Mestral, an electrical engineer, was walking his dog one day. Returning from the walk he noticed that the dog had a bur, a dry grass seed, stuck to his hair. He examined the phenomenon and realized that the bur had many tiny hooks. After experimenting with nylon, De Mestral eventually invented Velcro.

Next time you reach for a post-it note to jot down a message or a reminder, think about how these useful like pieces of paper were invented. In 1968 Dr. Spencer Silver, a scientist from the US, made a glue which should have been stronger than it was. Dr. Spencer tried for five years to patent his glue but without success. Then one day a friend of his, Art Fry, decided it would be a good way of marking his place in the hymn book he used to sing in a choir. From that, Post-its were born!

Finally, let’s look at popsicles. These were invented by chance when one cold night an eleven-year-old boy accidentally left a glass of flavored juice outside his house on the porch. The next day the juice had frozen. This young boy, named Frank Epperson, went on to patent the idea and sell popsicles when he was older.

Sometimes the best ideas begin with a blunder!