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6 times being curious led to something amazing

Because trying new things leads to greatness.

EINSTEIN ONCE SAID: “I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious.”

Now, alright, he might have just been being modest. But there’s definitely something to be said for our human sense of curiosity about the world.

It drives us to try new things, learn stuff about the world, go new places – and find out about amazing new things that otherwise would have languished undiscovered.

Here are some people in history who really had this curiosity thing figured out (and came up with some incredible inventions to show for it).

1. The slinky

The slinky was accidentally invented by Richard Jones – a naval engineer. He was actually trying to make a meter designed to monitor power on battleships at the time. While working with tension springs, one fell to the floor and bounced around. The slinky was born!

cobaltfish cobaltfish

2. Cornflakes

The Kellogg brothers, John and Will, were trying to make a pot of boiled grain but forgot about it and left it on the stove for several days. (Ah lads, your mam must have been raging.) Anyway, the mixture had turned mouldy but gotten dry and thick – they experimented some more and discovered the breakfast staple: cornflakes.

Bess Georgette Bess Georgette

3. The microwave

Percy Spencer was tinkering around with radar-related research with the Raytheon Corporation (as you do, naturally) when he noticed that chocolate bars he kept on him were melting as he worked. He popped popcorn in the machine, then realised he’d just accidentally revolutionised cooking.

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4. Viagra

Two researchers at the big pharma company Pfizer were researching a new drug that they thought might treat high blood pressure and angina. It wasn’t effective on that front, but its – ahem – other use was quickly discovered in trials. And thus the world was given Viagra.

One day Felixe Felixe

5. Ice pops

Back in 1905, fizzy drinks were the latest big thing. An 11 year-old named Frank Epperson wanted to make his own at home using powder and water, but then forgot about it and left it out on his porch all night. It froze – and Frank had invented the popsicle.

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6. Velcro

George De Mestral was coming home from a walk with his dog one day when he noticed how perfectly burrs stuck to his pet’s fur. He looked closer at the fur with a microscope, and figured out how tiny hooks and loops connected. With this in mind, he invented Velcro in 1955 – setting us all up for getting a right slagging in primary school for still having Velcro runners.

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OK, so you might not discover nuclear fission when you try Amstel’s Radler beer – but you will be refreshed. And that’s good enough, right? With its low alcohol content and great lemon flavour, Radler should be your number-one choice of drink this autumn. Satisfy your curiosity – and your thirst. Enter the Refreshingly Curious World of Amstel Radler on Facebook.

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