12 Sinister Inventions Created With the Most Innocent of Intentions
![12 Sinister Inventions Created With the Most Innocent of Intentions](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/8/3/9/890839_320x180.jpg)
We have sought to improve our lives and the lives of those around us through invention and discovery. From the wheel to the internet, the human race has been blessed with a seemingly endless array of technological advancements. And many of these ended up being used to kill and/or harm our fellow men.
This list is about those inventions and discoveries that went from mundane to deadly. From tuna to war, from weevil killer to gas, from atomic discovery to explosive innovation, from immortality denied to warfare enabled, from heroin to gun silencers, from laughing gas to flamethrowers, and from nitroglycerin to the heart’s best friend. Some of these were invented as harmless, but a couple are weapons that, we found out, could also be a force of good.
We invite you to explore these twelve stories of innovation and invention, and to consider the ways in which they have changed our world.
Noise-free(ish) hunting: now a reality.
![Created with good intentions GUN SILENCERS In 1902, one guy created a gun silencer that was widely available to the public. Its purpose was to help protect people's hearing and reduce noise pollution for hunters. CRACKED](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/2/1/6/890216.jpg)
Cheaper weevil killer, deadly gas.
![Created with good intentions SARIN GAS Gerhard Schrader, a German scientist, developed sarin in late 1938. It was meant to be a cheaper pesticide to kill weevils, but it turned out to be incredibly toxic. CRACKED](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/2/1/5/890215.jpg)
Atomic discovery, not destruction.
![Created with good intentions THE NUCLEAR BOMB In December 1938, two German radiochemists made a major breakthrough in their Berlin lab-they discovered that splitting an atom's nucleus could release a lot of energy. But they weren't trying to create a superweapon (or any weapon at all). CRACKED](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/2/1/0/890210.jpg)
Razvan Dragomirescu/Shutterstock
U.S. Department of Energy Office of Scientific and Technical Information
Alert soldiers, sleepy civilians.
![Created with good intentions METH In 1893, a Japanese chemist created methamphetamine, which was used to treat narcolepsy, asthma, and help people lose weight. During World War II, both sides of the conflict used the drug to keep their soldiers alert. CRACKED](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/2/0/6/890206.jpg)
Heroin: not so heroic.
![Created with good intentions HEROIN In 1899, a German company made a new form of morphine that was easier to take as a cough medicine. They called it heroin and it quickly became popular, but by 1914, people were showing up at hospitals with addictions. CRACKED](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/2/0/8/890208.jpg)
Immortality denied, warfare enabled.
![Created with good intentions GUNPOWDER Chinese monks in the 9th century stumbled upon gunpowder while searching for a potion to give them eternal life. The Mongols then spread this mixture of saltpeter, sulfur, and charcoal to the rest of the world, and it was used in battles. CRACKED](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/2/1/3/890213.jpg)
Heart’s best friend?
![Created with good intentions NITROGLYCERIN nitroglycerin Nitroglycerin sublingual tablets are used to help with chest pain caused by coronary artery disease. They work by making it easier for the heart to pump blood, so it doesn't need as much oxygen. Miraculously, they don't blow it up. CRACKED](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/2/1/4/890214.jpg)
Chemo: from war to cure.
![Created with good intentions MUSTARD GAS In 1942, the U.S. government asked Yale University to research chemical warfare agents. This research eventually led to the first clinical trial of chemotherapy, which was done on a 48-year-old man with a terminal form of lymphosarcoma. CRACKED](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/2/0/9/890209.jpg)
Party on, Humphry!
![Created with good intentions LAUGHING GAS Back in the 1700s, Humphry Davy used to throw parties where he'd give his guests a hit of laughing gas from a green silk bag. Weird as it sounds, this ended up being a major breakthrough in medicine, as it led to the invention of anesthesia. CRACKED](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/2/1/1/890211.jpg)
Old-school flame-broiling.
![Created with good intentions FLAMETHROWERS Some people are using a propane tank and a wand that shoots flames to cook weeds instead of using chemicals or pulling them out manually. This weed-killing technique has been used for over a century, but is now being tested in city parks. CRACKED](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/2/0/5/890205.jpg)
Explosive innovation.
![Created with good intentions DYNA DYNAMITE EXPLOSIVE MATERIAL DYNAMITE G: Swede Alfred Nobel created dynamite and the blasting cap needed to make it go off in the 1860s. This helped to start the industrial revolution in the U.S. as it made clearing areas for construction much easier (also, it turned out to be pretty deadly). CRACKED](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/2/0/7/890207.jpg)
Tuna to war: adapted.
![Created with good intentions COMBAT DRONES In 1998, two founders started a company to build a better drone to locate tuna in the ocean. When the Iraq War began, they quickly adapted their plans and their ScanEagle was ready for use in Iraq within three months. The rest is military history. CRACKED](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/2/1/2/890212.jpg)