Focus on the Family Magazine - June/July 2023

KIDS & TEENS / RESILIENCY
Famous Failures
BY FAITH WISMER
Have you ever considered that failure could be the
best way to discover something new? Throughout
history, people have become famous for “mistakes”
turned into successes. See if you recognize any of
these “flops”:
PENICILLIN
Bacteriologist Alexander Fleming left
a couple of petri dishes in the lab
that were covered in different bacteria
from his failed attempts to find
a “wonder drug.” Weeks later, he discovered
mold on some of the dishes.
After analyzing, he found the dishes
with the mold were clean of bacteria
while the others were still contaminated.
This “barrier” of mold killed
several strands of deadly bacteria,
which was later formed into a medicine
safe enough for the human body.
This accident led to the first antibiotic.
POST-IT NOTES
Chemist Spencer Silver was trying to
create a super-strong adhesive when
the opposite happened. The adhesive
he created was weak and only able to
stick to things temporarily. Art Fry, a
colleague of Silver’s, thought that this
“glue” could be used for bookmarks.
The two then decided that the weak
adhesive would work perfectly on
just one edge of a piece of paper.
POTATO CHIPS
Chef George Crum was working
when a guest complained that their
french fries weren’t crispy enough. So
Crum sliced potatoes incredibly thin,
fried them, topped them with salt
and sent the plate to the guest. The
guest loved the reimagined snack,
and the potato chip was created.
STAINLESS STEEL
CHOCOLATE
CHIP COOKIES
Restauranteur Ruth Wakefield, owner
of the Toll House Inn, was making
cookies when she ran out of baker’s
chocolate. To substitute, she used
sweetened chocolate broken into
small pieces. Mixing it in the dough
and baking the cookies, she expected
the chocolate to melt and was surprised
that the chocolate pieces
stayed intact. The chocolate chip
cookie is now the most popular
cookie in the world.
Scientist Harry Brearley was developing
a powerful metal that could
withstand friction inside a rifle barrel.
One day he noticed one of the metals
he’d thrown away remained shiny
while all others had rusted. Looking
back on his notes, he located the
formula he used on the test he’d
thought was a failed experiment.
From this, stainless steel was birthed.
Take a lesson from these famous
failures—and use your mistakes
to improve your situation or find
a solution.
14 FOCUS ON THE FAMILY CANADA JUNE / JULY 2023