40 Incredible Inventions That Were Born Out of Chance

If you have ever gotten a cavity filled at the dentist, you may be familiar with the strange substance known as laughing gas—nitrous oxide. This anesthetic removes your pain and makes you a little slap happy (hence the name “laughing gas”). I think I’m hilarious when I’m on laughing gas and irritate my dentist with my stupid jokes.

The story goes that its medicinal use came from an experience that a dentist had at the circus. He saw someone who had inhaled nitrous oxide get cut without feeling any pain. It occurred to him that he might be able to use it in his dental practice to keep his patients from feeling pain. Thanks to that development, we can all annoy our dentists with stupid jokes when we hop on nitrous oxide.