Have you ever wondered how your favorite food was invented?
Most foods were created with a purpose — and on purpose. It’s well known that the fourth Earl of Sandwich, John Montagu, decided to put meat between bread slices to easily play cards — and not waste time, per History.
But some beloved foods were made on accident. Here’s are some foods that were created completely by accident.
1. Popsicles
The flavorful summer treat is commonly known as an accidental invention.
According to the Popsicle company, 11-year-old Frank Epperson forgot a glass of soda outside — with a stirring stick placed in it. The next morning, he found the frozen drink stuck on the stick, and the rest became history.
Originally calling them “Epsicles,” Epperson began selling the frozen products in 1922, renaming them to Popsicles two years later. The treats have since remained popular for almost a century, with over 2 billion of them sold per year, according to Popsicle.
2. Potato chips
Potato chips were actually invented as an insult.
Per Smithsonian, George Speck, a hotel chef from Saratoga Lake, New York, was dealing with a disgruntled customer in 1853 who disliked french-fried potatoes. Hearing the potatoes were too soft and thick, Speck decided to thinly slice and fry them until the “chips” turned brown.
The customer loved the creation and soon people flocked to the hotel to try “Saratoga Chips,” per Smithsonian. Over 150 years later, chips remain one of the most popular snacks in the U.S.
3. Pink lemonade
The creation of pink lemonade revolves around two stories — both taking place at the circus, according to Food Republic.
The first claim involves Pete Conklin, the brother of a lion tamer. In 1857, in an effort to get more water to sell lemonade at a circus, Pete scooped up dirty water used to wash pink tights and sold the pink-colored lemonade as “strawberry lemonade.”
The other story centers around performer Henry E. “Bunk” Allott. One day, around the late 19th century, Allot was selling lemonade to circus attendants when he accidentally “spilled cinnamon candies in the vat of lemonade, and their red dye turned the mixture pink,” per Food Republic.
Regardless of which story is correct, pink lemonade continues to be a sweet drink for the summer.
4. Worcestershire sauce
According to HuffPost, in the mid-1800s, a British nobleman returned from Bengal, India, and was craving an Indian sauce. He hired two chemists — John Lea and William Perrins — to make a similar sauce, but their first attempt was a failure.
They kept their sauce in a cellar for two years before it was rediscovered. Lea and Perrins found the aging process made the sauce savory and they eventually bottled and sold the unique sauce — which is commonly used for marinades to this day.
5. Chocolate chip cookies
One of the most well-known origin stories, chocolate chip cookies were made with humble beginnings.
The cookies were invented in the late 1930s, when Ruth Wakefield — owner of the Toll House Inn — was baking a batch of her Butter Drop Do cookies, per CNN. One day, she decided to cut up a Nestle semi-sweet chocolate bar and add it to the cookie dough, thinking it would make chocolate cookies.
However, Wakefield’s expectations didn’t go as planned — in fact, it was much better. The chocolate was kept whole.
Soon after, she shared the recipe to both her “Tried and True” cookbook and the Nestle company, and the cookies became a staple for the dessert industry.