The world often feels harsh, yet countless everyday delights trace their roots back to moments of intense hardship. In this roundup of 10 popular innovations, we uncover how tragedy, war, and oppression unintentionally gave rise to treats, gadgets, and cultural phenomena we now cherish.
10 popular innovations Shaped by Suffering
10 The Tragedies Of The Great Depression And World War II Gave Us The Bliss Of The Twinkie
Much like the famed snack itself, Hostess managed to survive far longer than anyone expected during the bleak years of the Great Depression. While most firms were teetering on the edge of collapse, Hostess clung to a narrow window of operation.
James Dewar originally crafted a short‑cake filled with fresh strawberries, but those berries were only available for roughly two months each year. When the economy crumbled, staying open merely sixty days annually proved unsustainable.
To stay afloat, they swapped the seasonal strawberries for a fruit that could be sourced year‑round: bananas. The resulting banana‑filled cake became wildly popular and earned the nickname “Twinkies.”
However, America’s entry into World War II brought a banana ration, forcing Hostess to search for yet another filling. During the war, they turned to vanilla‑flavored cream.
What began as a stop‑gap measure turned into a permanent change; the vanilla‑filled Twinkie outsold its banana predecessor, and even after the banana ration lifted, the company never reverted.
9 The Power Chord Was Invented Because A Soldier Lost His Lung In The Korean War
Every rock‑and‑roll anthem leans on the power chord, a sonic building block heard in everything from AC/DC to Nirvana. Its legacy can be traced straight back to Link Wray’s groundbreaking 1958 instrumental “Rumble.”
Wray had once dreamed of a singing career, but the Korean War interrupted his plans. The harsh jungle environment exposed him to a slew of diseases.
Like many of his comrades, he contracted a severe bout of tuberculosis that ultimately required the removal of one lung.
Deprived of his vocal ambitions, Wray turned his focus to the guitar, inventing a gritty, overdriven sound that would become the cornerstone of the power chord.
His forced pivot gave birth to a musical staple that would shape generations of punk, metal, and rock musicians, ensuring his impact far outlived the battlefield injury.
8 Sunlamps Were Originally For Dying World War I Orphans
After World I, Germany’s economy lay in ruins, leaving the civilian population severely malnourished. Food scarcity meant that adults and returning soldiers received the bulk of what little remained, leaving children especially vulnerable.
Massive numbers of youngsters developed rickets, a disease caused by deficiencies in vitamin D, calcium, and phosphate. At the time, doctors had no clear understanding of the condition’s cause.
Physician Kurt Huldschinsky observed that the afflicted children were unusually pale and hypothesized that ultraviolet light might help. He built a lamp emitting UV radiation, and the children’s health dramatically improved.
Huldschinsky commercialized the device as a “sunlamp,” a prototype that would later inspire the modern tanning bed, granting generations of celebrities and politicians a fashionable, albeit radioactive, glow.
7 The First Bicycle Came After A Horse Apocalypse
In 1816, the eruption of Mount Tambora unleashed a catastrophic ash cloud that killed roughly 4,600 people instantly and caused a further 10,000 deaths in the ensuing weeks. By the end of the year, the disaster claimed about 90,000 lives worldwide.
The eruption’s fallout darkened the sky over Europe for months, devastating oat crops that fed draft horses. As the grain withered, thousands of horses perished, and the survivors became too costly to maintain for impoverished farmers.
With their primary mode of transport gone, people were forced to seek alternatives that didn’t rely on animal feed. Inventor Karl Drais von Sauerbronn responded by creating a foot‑propelled “dandy‑horse,” the earliest personal bicycle.
The dandy‑horse, named after the now‑absent equine labor, marked the birth of human‑powered personal transportation, paving the way for the modern bicycle we know today.
6 The Civil War Made Tabasco Sauce, And Reconstruction Made It Popular
In the 1850s, Edmund McIlhenny thrived as a banker, but the Civil War ruined his fortunes, leaving him bankrupt. He retreated to his in‑laws’ home on Avery Island, Louisiana.
Unbeknownst to him, the island sat atop a massive salt deposit. McIlhenny mined the salt and sold it to the Confederacy, generating a lucrative wartime income. Union forces later targeted the salt mine, burning his farm twice.
Fleeing the danger, his family escaped to Texas. When McIlhenny returned after the war, his attempts to cultivate a garden failed on the scorched, saline soil.
In New Orleans, a veteran shared Mexican pepper seeds with him. Using those seeds, McIlhenny produced the first bottle of Tabasco sauce.
The fiery condiment quickly gained traction during Reconstruction, adding much‑needed flavor to the bland fare of the era. Today, it remains a staple on tables worldwide.
5 Hip‑Hop Owes A Lot To Robert Kennedy’s Assassination
The tragic and untimely death of Robert Kennedy sent shockwaves through 1960s politics, but its ripple effects reached an unexpected arena: hip‑hop culture.
In 1968, campaign aide Michael Viner joined Kennedy’s team and met former football star Rosey Grier, who was working security for the candidate. Grier famously wrestled the gun from Sirhan Sirhan’s hand.
Both men planned to continue political work in Washington, but Kennedy’s assassination halted those plans. Instead, they stayed in California and entered the entertainment industry.
Grier acted in, and Viner produced the soundtrack for, the B‑movie “The Thing with Two Heads.” The film’s minor hit “Bongo Rock” sparked Viner’s next venture.
Viner formed the Incredible Bongo Band and recorded a cover of “Apache.” This version became the anthem of early hip‑hop, popularized by DJ Kool Herc during his legendary block parties.
“Apache” provided the first scratchable groove for Grand Wizzard Theodore, birthing turntablism and influencing countless artists—from Afrika Bambaataa to Nas—who sampled the track for decades.
4 The Treadmill Was A Torture Device For Prisoners
In the aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars, England faced a dire labor shortage. Prisons supplied a ready pool of workers, and in 1817 Sir William Cubitt invented the first treadmill—a device more akin to today’s stair‑climber.
Inmates stood on large spokes that turned a massive wheel, converting their steps into mechanical power that crushed grain, pumped water, or drove mills. The relentless motion earned the apparatus its name.
Working the treadmill was excruciating: prisoners were forced to walk for six hours a day, climbing an equivalent of 4,300 metres—nearly half the height of Mount Everest—over a five‑day stretch.
If a worker stopped, the wheel kept turning, causing the inmate to tumble and sustain injuries. Public outcry eventually led to the treadmill’s ban in England as cruel and unusual punishment in 1898, though its modern gym counterpart still feels punishing.
3 Dunking Booths Were A Violent By‑Product Of Segregation
Dunking booths have become a staple of fairs and church carnivals, offering a playful test of strength that ends with a splash. Yet their origins are far darker.
In the late 1800s, a popular attraction called the “African Dodger” challenged participants to throw a baseball at a live Black man’s head protruding from a painted plantation backdrop. Hitting the target earned the thrower a prize.
Over time, carnival owners deemed the practice too cruel and replaced the live participants with wooden “Negro Heads.” The two games eventually merged into the “African Dip,” where striking the target triggered a mechanism that dunked the person into water.
Eventually, the booth evolved into a harmless amusement where anyone could sit in the dunk tank, shedding its violent origins.
2 The Banjo Was Used To Keep Slaves From Dying
The banjo, now synonymous with Appalachian folk, Muppet characters, and Steve Martin’s comedy, actually has a grim genesis rooted in the trans‑Atlantic slave trade.
In the 1600s, slave ships faced a dire problem: many captives fell ill and died en route, threatening the shipowners’ profit margins.
To keep the enslaved labor force healthier, owners encouraged dancing, hoping rhythmic movement would stave off disease. They believed African musical traditions could motivate the slaves, so they introduced stringed instruments resembling the banjo.This instrument made its way to America and, after being showcased in minstrel shows that caricatured enslaved people, the banjo entered mainstream white entertainment, cementing its place in American culture.
1 Cosmetics Come From Mutilated Prisoners
Most of us don’t realize that the anti‑aging miracle known as Retin‑A, a staple in acne treatments and wrinkle creams, owes its existence to grim prison experiments.
The World Health Organization even labels it as one of the most essential medications for a basic health system. Yet its development was anything but benign.
After World II, the Nuremberg Code outlawed human experimentation worldwide—except, it seems, in Philadelphia. From 1951 to 1974, dermatologist Albert Kligman conducted drug trials on inmates at Holmesburg Prison, viewing them as “acres of skin” rather than humans.
Funded by the CIA, Dow Chemical, and Johnson & Johnson, Kligman subjected prisoners to extreme procedures: stripping skin with Scotch tape, pulling fingernails, dousing open wounds with Agent Orange, dosing them with LSD, and even exposing them to radioactive isotopes.
Among the many compounds tested, an early version of Retin‑A emerged, eventually becoming the cornerstone of modern cosmetics.
These experiments claimed countless lives, and the legacy of such cruelty lingers in the products we use daily.
Nate Yungman is a freelance writer. Follow him on Twitter for more eye‑opening lists, or email him with questions or complaints at the address provided.