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Perkin’s dye created a fashion craze and sparked an industry in its infancy. At the time of Perkin's accidental creation of mauve, colored dyes were hard to come by and were very expensive. In fact, purple dyes were created by using exotic crushed snails! Now Perkin came along and made mauve from coal tar waste. Perkin’s odd purple color was favored by fashionistas of the time, including Queen Victoria and Napoleon III’s wife Empress Eugenie. It was inexpensive enough that even the middle-class masses could afford to wear it instead of the drab greys, browns, and off-whites that were common at the time. Perkin amassed a fortune and retired at the age of 36. His discovery revolutionized the industry of artificial dyes and made organic chemistry exciting, useful and profitable. 
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| German biologist Walther Flemming used aniline dyes, created from coal tars, to study cells under a microscope. The staining process revealed structures in the cell and he was able to visualize the threadlike structures as cells divided. Since they were dyed, he called these bundles chromosomes, after the Greek “chromos” for color. Much of what we know today about cell division originated from Flemming’s observations.
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| On Perkins' lead, chemical factories began popping up searching for uses of coal tar. This lead to even more profitable accidents. One such happy accident that happened in 1879 was based on careful observation and a bit of carelessness. Constantin Fahlberg was working with compounds and products from coal tar. One evening he stayed at the lab late and rushed off to dinner without stopping to wash his hands. He noticed that the bread he was holding was incredibly sweet. He rinsed with water and grabbed his napkin to dry his mouth. To his surprise, the napkin was even sweeter than the bread. Eventually it dawned on him that his hands were the source of the sweetness. He had created and discovered something that out-sugared sugar. Fahlberg and his lab mates called this super-sweet substance saccharin. Saccharin was the first artificial sweetener. It has had a colorful history since its accidental discovery, but it is still in little pink packs in most restaurants.
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| In the 20th century there were even more accidental reactions and discoveries. In the late 1930’s researchers at DuPont were working with refrigerants. One day a new mixture of chemicals reacted to form a powder that made stuff slippery. DuPont used this material, eventually called Teflon, to make nonstick surfaces, and wire cables that are non-conductive. When drawn into thin fibers and woven together it is used to create waterproof clothing.
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| These historically significant feats would not have been possible without an accidental discovery, and some reaction know-how from chemists and chemical engineers that were observant and persistent enough to recognize that they stumbled upon something special.
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