令人惊喜的意外发现

　　在人类社会不断进步的过程中，各种各样的发明层出不穷。不过，有些是发明家苦思冥想设计出来的，有些则是人们无意中发现的、却从那以后再也离不开的新发明。

　　howstuffworks网站总结了10个最令人愉悦的、人们无意间的新发明(10 of History's Happiest Accidents), 这其中的很多都是你日常生活中经常见到的哦——先来一起看看其中的4个吧!

　　一、冰棒

　　一般来说，我们都认为冰棒的故乡是在中国，因为在古籍上就有皇宫以冰消暑的记载。也就是说，我们的冰棒已经有了上千年的历史。

　　不过在歪果仁的认知里，他们的冰棒是20世纪初一个小男孩儿无意中发明的。他在冬天的时候不小心把苏打饮料落在了外面，于是发明了冰棒这种备受孩子们欢迎的零食。

　　The concept of a Popsicle(冰棒、冰棍) — a frozen, sugary treat on a stick — seems so simple that a kid could have invented it. In fact, that's exactly what happened. Back in the winter of 1905, 11-year-old Frank Epperson left a glass of fruit-flavored powdered soda mixed with water out on his porch overnight with a stirring stick(搅拌棒) in it. The next morning, out popped the world's first Popsicle.

　　冰棒是一种棍状的冰冻甜品，它的概念简单到连一个小孩子都能发明出来。而事实就是如此。1905年的一个冬天，11岁的弗兰克·艾普森把一杯水果味的苏打饮料落在了门廊，里面插着一根搅拌棒。第二天早上，世界上第一根冰棒就出现啦!

　　Epperson didn't start selling his accidental invention until 18 years later when he prepared his frozen treat for a fireman's ball in his hometown of San Francisco. The crowd loved it, and Epperson quit his day job as a real estate agent to patent and sell his world-famous Epsicles(冰棒最初的名字).

　　直到18年后，艾普森才开始售卖他的这个意外发明，当时他在家乡旧金山，为消防员的舞会准备了他的这个独家冷冻食品。冰棒大受欢迎，所以艾普森辞去了房地产经纪人的工作，为他举世闻名的Epsicles(他将冰棒命名为这个名字)申请了专利。

　　Yes, that was the original name, until his children — who always called them "pop's sicles" — convinced him to change it. Good work, kids.

　　是的，这是冰棒最初的名字，直到他的孩子们——孩子们喜欢称之为“流行的冰棒”——说服他把这个发明名称改为冰棒。干得漂亮，孩子们。

　　二、啤酒

　　是谁发明了第一瓶啤酒?谁也说不清楚。有人说，是中亚地区的古人向女神哈罗献贡酒，也就是用大麦酿制的酒。也有人说，两河流域地区的苏美尔人用麦芽酿制啤酒。当然，也有说是伊朗附近的闪米人为了向农耕女神献酒而无意中酿制了啤酒。

　　但不管怎么说，让我们感谢那位第一个品尝发酵酒的人吧，感谢他的好奇心与勇气!

　　Benjamin Franklin is supposed to have said, "Beer is living proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy." Good thinking, Ben.

　　据说，本杰明·富兰克林曾说过这样一句话：“啤酒是上帝爱我们，并希望我们快乐的活生生的证据。”说得太好了，本杰明先生。

　　The ancient discovery of fermentation(发酵) was almost certainly a happy accident – perhaps one of the happiest of all. No one knows who exactly invented the first beer. Humans first began domesticating wild grains around 10,000 years ago in Mesopotamia(美索不达米亚). The first breads were unleavened(未发酵的), meaning they were flat and tough. When grain gets wet, it becomes food for naturally occurring yeasts(酵母菌) in the air, which produce alcohol as a byproduct.

　　几乎可以肯定的是，古代“发酵”技术的发现是一个快乐的意外——说不定是目前所有的发现中最快乐的一个。没有人知道到底是谁发明了第一瓶啤酒。大约一万年前，人类在美索不达米亚地区种植野生谷物。人类生产出的第一批面包是未发酵的面包，又干又硬。但是当谷物变得潮湿时，它就会变成空气中自然产生的酵母菌的食物，而酵母菌的副产品就是酒精。

　　At some point, ancient bakers must have noticed that this fermented grain rose into fluffier(蓬松的)loaves of bread. A few adventurous/crazy folks also decided to take a sip(嘬一口，抿一小口) of the stinky foam in the grain bin. And beer was born!

　　也许在某种程度上，古代的面包师一定注意到了这种发酵的谷物会变成更松软的面包。于是一些爱冒险的疯狂的人决定尝一口粮仓里臭气熏天的泡沫。于是啤酒就这样诞生了!