40 Incredible Inventions That Were Born Out of Chance

Have you ever heard of the theremin? It’s a fascinating instrument that you can play without touching it. You move your hands near the instrument, and you can change the pitch and volume of the sound being emitted. The theremin is best known for making spooky sounds in 1950s B-films, but it can also be used to play classical music, and in the right hands, it is stunningly beautiful.

But the inventor of the theremin—Leon Theremin—didn’t set out to create a musical instrument. The Soviet scientist was experimenting with electromagnetism in the 1920s when he realized that moving his hand between two antennas could affect the signal. Thus, one of the world’s most unusual instruments—sometimes called the first electronic instrument—came to be.