The best-laid plans can often go awry. Sometimes, when they do, the result can be pure profit.

Millions have been made from accidental discoveries, proof of the adage that sometimes it is better to be lucky than good.

Coca-Cola and Pepsi were birthed as medicinal remedies. Plastic was first synthesized in a failed effort to reproduce the shellac once made from beetle husks and Charles Goodyear, as in Goodyear, made no secret that his revolutionary process for vulcanized rubber was discovered randomly.

Less trivial is the X-ray machine, which revolutionized medicine and has saved countless lives. Its technology was stumbled upon as a byproduct of an incorrectly staged physics experiment with cathode rays.

Here are some products that went from being missteps to famous discoveries: