It was the year 1853 when George Crum, a chef working in Saratoga Springs, had some problems. His potatoes, according to a customer, weren’t crisp enough. Finally, after repeated efforts to unsog his potatoes, Crum sliced them paper-thin, fried them in fat, and gave America her most popular snack food: potato chips. Serendipity.
In 1878 a worker, lingering too long over lunch, let a batch of liquified soap mix too long. He hoped his mistake would go unnoticed. The customers noticed. The soap, with an abundant mixture of air, floated. Ivory Soap started to clean things 99 and 44/100ths percent pure. Serendipity.
In 1905 Frank Epperson, an eleven-year-old boy, left his drink made up of soda powder and water on his back porch. During the night, the liquid froze around the stirring stick and popsicles were born. Serendipity!