The Accidental Inventions That We’re All Grateful For

Decor trends have sometimes moved in the wildest directions—carpet in the kitchen and ruffled toilet seat covers come to mind. But in 1957, Marc Chavannes and Alfred Fielding came up with an absolute doozy when they decided to create 3D wallpaper by trapping air bubbles between plastic sheets.

As should surprise no one, their 3D wallpaper idea never really took off. But, not quite ready to give up on their concept yet, they tried a few different uses for their invention, hitting the jackpot when IBM realized it could be used to pad equipment while it was being shipped. And so bubble wrap was born.