11 everyday products that owe their success to major world wars

Douglas MacArthur
Wikimedia Commons

World wars can be ugly to no end, but the positive byproduct is often a great deal of innovation.

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As a result, there are a range of everyday products — from watches to sunglasses to medicine — that might never have taken off if not for the wars that raged in the background.

(H/T: BBC, Cracked)

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Antibiotics

penicillin
Flickr user Marco Milani

Medicine we normally take for granted today (namely, penicillin and sulfonamide) got its start right before World War II.

Before the war, the drugs looked promising but had yet to be tested on a wide scale. Once the war began, however, soldiers desperately needed ways to disinfect wounds and stave off diseases caused by bacteria.

 

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Canned food

canned-food-pantry-cans-tuna-soup-tomato
Avvital Pinnick

Canning began as early as the 1880s, but it wasn't until World War I that it exploded in popularity.

Without access to refrigeration, soldiers needed ways to keep high-calorie foods available at all times.

Today, most American military personnel use MREs (meals ready to eat), but the usefulness of canned goods in civilian life still remains over 100 years later.

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Wristwatches

A Patek Philippe wristwatch from the collection of musician Eric Clapton is on display at Christie's auction house
REUTERS/Keith Bedford

Keeping a pocket watch doesn't serve you well when you're on the battlefield and need to know the time.

In an effort to let soldiers stop fumbling through their pockets and keep both hands free, watch manufacturers during World War I began fastening straps to their watch faces in much larger quantities than they had in years prior.

Though the idea had been around before the war, the overwhelming need helped make it a mainstay.

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Aviator sunglasses

Douglas MacArthur
Wikimedia Commons

As the name implies, the popular sunglasses design started with Air Force pilots who needed a way to shield their eyes from the sun.

They were first sold in 1936 but became hugely popular when General Douglas MacArthur touched down on a Philippines beach during World War II and photographers quickly snapped photos of him in his aviators.

The image sparked a trend that has continued to this day.

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Tampons

tampon
iStock

Facing bandage shortages during World War I, cotton manufacturer Kimberly-Clark developed a material that was far cheaper than the original stuff but five times more absorbent.

Soldiers flocked to the material, and so did women.

Known originally as cellucotton, the super-absorbent material is now primarily used in feminine hygiene products such as tampons and pads.

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Tabasco hot sauce

Tabasco-redsauce-greensauce-hotsauce-seasoning-restaurant
ak37

During the Civil War, a man named Edmund McIlhenny was threatened by Union forces in New Orleans. He eventually fled to Texas where he and his family started a farm.

While away, however, Union soldiers burned the majority of his crops. He returned to find only the peppers from the Mexican state of Tabasco had survived.

Feeling enterprising, McIlhenny mixed the peppers with salt and vinegar and bottled them for sale.

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Jerrycan

gas cans
Oliver/Flickr

Those generic cans that you use to haul gasoline to your stranded car actually originated at the start of World War II as a way for the German military to carry large amounts of fuel.

Originally, they were made of pressed steel. Over time, as they were adapted for less high-stakes applications, they transitioned to plastic.

Many NATO countries' militaries still use the original steel cans for carrying fuel.

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Microwave

microwave
david_shane/Flickr

Radar was an immensely useful technology for spotting enemy activity in WWII. It uses microwave radiation, the same form of energy that underlies modern microwave ovens.

When Percy Spencer, an American physicist and inventor, noticed one of his equipment tests ended up melting some chocolate in his pocket, he quickly put more food in the box. It all cooked.

The microwave — a six-foot-tall, 750-lb. box known as the Radarange — received a US patent a few years later.

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Zippers

zipper

Like watches, the initial invention of the zipper happened several years before the start of World War I. But it was through the implementation in military suits and money belts that proved the zipper's durability.

The 1920s saw a spike in popularity once B.F. Goodrich took over manufacturing of the product and gave it the name "zipper," for its iconic noise.

Though it started mainly in boots and tobacco pouches, the zipper quickly found its way into pants, jackets, and bags.

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Butyl rubber

tires
Flickr / GeorgInfanger

Synthetic rubber was originally designed as an artificial replacement for regular rubber, which saw its overseas supply cut during to World War II.

Eventually, it was brought over into civilian life for use in rubber sealant, car tires, footballs, basketballs, and, in food-grade form, chewing gum.

The pair of inventors responsible for butyl rubber recently joined the 2016 class for the Inventors Hall of Fame.

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Duct tape

duct tape
Wikimedia/Evan Amos

The life-saving invention was first produced by Johnson & Johnson during World War II as a waterproof way to seal ammunition cases.

The company had been making bandages and wound dressings ever since the Spanish-American War, but the US government asked Johnson & Johnson to step outside their normal product lines for the war.

Sensing the usefulness of an adhesive, the company applied it to a duck cloth backing. Duck tape — and later, duct tape — was gifted to the masses.

War Inventions Innovation
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