10 brilliant ideas of mankind that were sold for a penny

Very often brilliant ideas which come to my mind, we seem to be some kind of nonsense. History has dozens of cases when people, in an effort to quickly earn money, selling your ideas for mere pennies. And only after a while it became clear that they brought the new owners almost millions.

The website presents to you the 10 most popular ideas that were sold for a penny, and brought fortunes.

1. Cookies chocolate chip





In 1930, during the preparation of biscuits according to the classic recipe American inventor Ruth Wakefield decided to do an experiment, broke the chocolate bar Nestle and adding it to the dough. Later, when the cookies have gained popularity and recognition, Ruth Wakefield transferred the rights to his invention of Nestle in exchange for a lifetime supply of chocolate.

2. Safety pin — a small but ingenious invention





Well-known mechanics from new York, Walter hunt owns the patents on numerous inventions: a pen, knife sharpeners, kitchen stove and dozens of others. One day, to return his friend's debt of $ 15, Walter decided to come up with something useful. Then he made the usual pin, the patent for which was sold to WR Grace for $ 400. The inventor returned the other $ 15, and WR Grace has earned millions.

3. Theme track to "James bond"





The original melody of "James bond" was written by Monty Norman in 1962. However, the film company did not like the sound, and she hired composer John Barry, who later added the melody elements of rock and jazz. The result is a universally recognizable hit. Barry paid for his work about $ 700, and Monty Norman has received more than $ 1 million of the fee.

4. Jelly: how to get the money out of thin air





In 1895, manufacturers of cough syrup and pearl Mae white of new York, have invented a tasty product of gelatin and sugar, which they called "jelly". After they bought the long-unused patent for powdered gelatin from Peter Cooper and began to sell their product. It was bad, and a few years later they sold the patent for jelly his neighbor Frank Woodward for $ 450. In 2013, sales of Jell-o made nearly $ 500 million.

5. The Poem "The Raven" By Edgar Allan PoE





At first Edgar wanted to print this poem in the magazine of his friend, but was refused. Then he sold "the Raven" The American Review for $ 9. The poem was immediately spread around the world. In 2009, one of the copies of the first book with the poem was sold for $ 662 500. But, unfortunately, PoE never received a single cent for it, and all his life lived in poverty.

6. Album cover of The Beatles





The cover of the eighth Studio album by The Beatles was designed by the British artist Peter Blake and his wife Jann Haworth.For creating this collage they were paid $ 280. Eventually it was sold about 32 million copies worldwide, making it one of the best selling albums of all time, and the cover is one of the best.

7. The painting "Red vineyard at Arles" by Vincent van Gogh





This picture was the only one, which the artist sold in his entire life. In 1890 it was acquired by the Belgian artist Anna Bosch for 400 francs ($ 1600 in today's money). As Edgar Allan PoE, van Gogh lived in poverty. Today his paintings are sold for tens of millions of dollars. "Red vineyard" was sold to Anna Bosch for 10 000 francs ($ 9900 in terms of the present) in 1906.

8. The terminator is the best idea Hollywood





Early in his career, an unknown Director James Cameron wrote a script called "the Terminator", which offered many companies in Hollywood.

But at that time nobody wanted to cooperate with the novice Director, with the exception of Gale Anne Hurd from New World Pictures. She agreed to do his film, if he sell all the rights to it for only $ 1.

James agreed, and although he lost the rights to the property "Terminator", after the resounding success of the film became one of the most famous and highly paid Directors in the world.

9. New costume spider-Man





In 1982, Marvel Comics held a contest for the best idea for fans of spider-Man. Then Randy Shueller, a fan from Illinois, has developed a new black suit for the main character.

A few months later he received a letter from Marvel editor-in-chief Jim Shooter, who liked the idea, and he offered to buy it for $ 220. In may 1984, Marvel presented the new costume of spider-Man, and in 2007, the film has collected almost $ 900 million worldwide.

10. The Jack London novel "call of the wild"





The first novel was published in January 1903 in four editions of the magazine the Saturday Evening Post, which paid the London non-exclusive rights for $ 750. In the same year, Jack had already sold the full rights of Macmillan Publishers for $ 2000. The novel was released on July 1, 1903, for $ 1,50. By 1914, the U.S. has sold 500,000 books, and by 1964, 6 million Nor London, nor his descendants have not paid a penny.

Photos on the preview Annapurna Pictures


See also
30 inventions, the life with which would be easier
25 inventions that should be everywhere
18 of the most cool inventions of 2015


via www.adme.ru/zhizn-nauka/18-samyh-krutyh-izobretenij-2015-goda-kotorye-prigodyatsya-kazhdomu-1124760/