Slurpees are yet another snack food invented by accident. Omar Knedlik owned an old Dairy Queen in Kansas City in the late-1950s, and the machinery wasn’t working well. When the soda fountain was acting up, he put some bottles in the freezer to keep them cold.
He probably left them in there too long, as when he opened them to serve, they had a slushy consistency rather than liquid. Customers liked them, though, and he began to receive requests for them. Now the movie theater and gas station staples make for the sweetest of sweet treats, perfect for when summer temperatures soar.
Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola has reached a level of brand-recognition envied by many companies. There aren't many places you can't grab a Coke — if you're driving through Djibouti and get a craving for a Coke, guess what? You can pick one up even in this semi-desert in Africa. That's the kind of power Coke has; when aliens arrive on Earth, they'll be like, "Oh, you guys have Coke too? That's neat."
Apparently, Coca-Cola was designated as a medicine when John Pemberton invented it back in 1885. He promoted it as 'brain tonic and intellectual beverage,' keeping the recipe under wraps but not hiding the fact that it contained a secret extracted from the coca leaf and caffeine from kola nuts (ergo, the name Coca-Cola). During Prohibition, it became popular as a 'soft' drink as people enjoyed its taste, without the added addictive stimulants, of course.
Granny Smith Apples
Granny Smith apples are amazing because: they're practically never mealy; they have a long shelf life. Whether they're raw or baked, they're still delicious.
"Granny" Smith was a real Australian lady that lived around the 1830s named Maria Ann Smith who tossed a bunch of rotten crabapples out of her kitchen window and into her backyard; these grew into a tree that accidentally spawned a different type of apple, her namesake apple. A very good apple indeed. So she patented it, and it soon became the most popular cooking apple around the world.
Tofu
There are many origin stories, with one legend telling of a cook's clumsiness in ancient China. He accidentally mixed this natural coagulant called nigari in with soybean milk.
So the ancient people of China began to make tofu - bean curd - a food item particularly enjoyed by anyone preferring vegetarian meals. Although it originated in China some 2,000 years ago, tofu only arrived in western kitchens in the 20th century.
Crêpes Suzette
A French waiter named Henri Charpentier said he was the one who invented the Crêpe Suzette while working in Monte Carlo. After unintentionally burning the sauce, Charpentier said he was making crêpes for a collection of influential and powerful restaurant patrons.
One of those diners, the Prince of Wales, who later became known as Britain's King Edward VII, enjoyed it so much that he demanded that it be named after the woman he was with, and her name was Suzette. Nowadays, Crêpe Suzette might be considered a little fussy or formal for many restaurants, but the fancy dessert will forever have a place in culinary folklore.