How a Lab Mistake Made $140 Million

In 1943, a military lab searching for synthetic rubber accidentally created a useless pink blob — it bounced, stretched, and shattered, but nobody could find a single use for it. Then one man, $12,000 in debt, bought the rights for just $147, packed the goo into plastic eggs, and called it Silly Putty. It went on to become one of the best-selling toys of the century, flew to the Moon on Apollo 8, and left behind a $140 million fortune. So how did something completely useless turn into one of the most profitable accidents in history?