A lot of wars have been fought in the world for various reasons. They have caused massive losses of lives of military personnel and innocent civilians. War has not even spared property and has displaced entire populations.

From a purely scientific and technology advancement angle, war wasn’t all that bad. In fact, I would argue, at least some good things have come from it.

Forgiving me for siding with every villain in every superhero movie ever when I say that “Human destruction is the only way we can evolve.” That statement is a little over the top but it is true to some. Look at these everyday inventions that actually came up only as the result of war.

Check out these inventions from war

Canned food

This invention was courtesy of Napoleon, who saw the need for carry-around Food for the battlefield. He offered 12,000 francs to anybody who could make it happen. Nicole Appert claimed the prize, when he started what would eventually be Canned Food. Appert would heat food in glass jars and bottles in boiling water. This was then improved by many investors until the can of beans, beef, peas and even fruit, as we know it, came to be.

Silly Putty

So, silly putty came to exist entirely by accident in 1943, courtesy of a scientist called James Wright. He was researching about how to make synthetic rubber when he mixed Boric acid with silicone oil. The result was putty. It did not come into use though until the end of the war, and proved to be a favorite of children especially. Adults, on the other hand, found out that it came in handy for fixing things around the house including fixing glass panes in place.

Margarine

Napoleon’s cousin takes the credit for this invention. He set a challenge for somebody who could find a substitute for butter to feed his soldiers in the battlefield, as well as his poor subjects. Butter was too expensive, and he needed something cheaper that could serve the same purpose. Hippolyte Mege-Mouries is the man who took up the challenge and came up with margarine.

The Jerry can

In anticipation of WWII, Germans made the Jerry can so that they would be able to stock large amounts of fuel and water to carry around. Their name for it was Wehrmachtskanister, and it was mainly for military use. They then accumulated thousands of them as they readied themselves for war.

The microwave

This invention was also stumbled upon by a researcher, Percy Spencer, who was looking at radar technology. In his pocket, he had a bar of chocolate, and when he went to retrieve it later, he noted that it had melted. Believe it or not, that is how he came up with the first microwave. The first prototype was not a big hit, though, as is it was too bulky and impractical to use. The microwave became popular later when the size reduced.

Super glue

In 1942, Harry Coover was trying to develop a clear gun sight from plastic, which was to be used by Allied Forces. Together with his colleague Fred Joyner, they realized that the formula they had made to stick the sight on had other potential as it held very fast and to almost anything. This ability to stick without the use of heat or pressure is what made the pair start marketing it as an adhesive.

Duct tape

During the Second World War, the US military was looking for a secure way to safely seal their ammunition cases and avoid moisture getting in. Johnson and Johnson were already using tape as a medical base, so they improved the medical tape with a few technologies here and there to make it more durable and waterproof as well, which is how Duct Tape was invented.

Pads and tampons

During WWI, injuries to soldiers were becoming very fatal, and most soldiers died due to bleeding out. Cotton wool was the material of choice to stop the blood flow from the injuries, and it would often and quickly run out during the war. Kimberly-Clark was a paper milling company, and due to the demand of a more absorbent material, they came up with this invention, which would later be taken up by the ladies.