Inventions are most often the result of long, persistent work and research. However, some inventions without which we could not imagine our daily life were born out of curiosity and play. There are different theories about the origin of the wheel or the discovery of fire, but all share the common ground that they were created quite by chance. Human kind’s need to understand and master natural forces has existed since time immemorial. While ancient times attributed divine characteristics to these natural phenomena, people have recently realised that natural forces can be restrained and even used. Benjamin Franklin was an American scientist and politician, one of the authors of the “Declaration of Independence” and the American Constitution, as well as a recognised inventor. While kite flying, Benjamin Franklin and his children were caught in a severe thunderstorm. The lightning striking the kite led Franklin to conclude that lightning was a type of electrical spark. This realisation led to one of Franklin’s most famous inventions, the lightning rod.

The world-famous scientist Nikola Tesla demonstrated the first “teleautomaton” at an exhibition in New York’s Madison Square Garden in 1898, that is, a radio remote controlled boat. It is believed that Tesla came up with this invention while playing with a boat on the Niagara River as a participant in the construction of a river dam.

It is less known that some of the things we use every day were born from play. In the 1960s, James Watson and Francis Crick discovered the double helix structure of DNA while playing with a set of coloured balls.

One of today’s favourite beverages, tea, was created when leaves from the branch of a nearby bush fell into boiled water. Most would have spilled this water, but China’s Emperor, Shennong, decided to take a chance and taste the “coloured” water. He liked the taste a lot, and millions of people who enjoy this drink every day would agree with him.

Constantin Fahlberg, a Russian chemist, experimented with tar. Rushing not to be late for the family dinner, he forgot to wash his hands. He noticed the sweet taste of the food. Although he thought that his wife had sweetened the food by mistake, he realised that the sweet aroma was coming from his hands. He soon patented saccharin, an artificial sweetener sweeter than sugar. It is hard to believe that “snacks”, without which watching a movie or a match is unthinkable, arose from the anger of a restaurant owner. Among the customers at his restaurant, George Crum had one who constantly complained that his potato slices were not cut thin enough. George was fed up with the constant complaints and, wanting to spite the demanding customer, decided to cut the potatoes as thin as possible and make slices almost transparent, then he put them in hot oil and left them as long as he could to finally salt them liberally. He thought this would drive away the rude customer, but it caused the opposite effect. The customer was delighted and that’s how today’s crisps were born.

In the early 19th century, one of the favourite games at the parties of the wealthier society members of the time was the use of the so-called “laughing gas”. An accidental leg injury of one of the party guests led to the discovery of anaesthesia. Namely, when he came to help, Horatio Wells found out that the injured person did not feel any pain. Realising that it was due to the mentioned gas, Horatio started using it when extracting teeth, and soon dentists started using it during most interventions. Today it is indispensable in medicine.

In the late 19th century, Thomas Adams made experiments with resin with the aim of finding a substitute for rubber. After several failures, an annoyed Thomas put a piece of resin in his mouth. To his surprise, he liked the taste and so the chewing gum was born. Playing with Play-Doh is one of children’s favourite pastimes, where they can express all their creativity. In ancient times, houses were heated with coal, so cinders were often stuck to the wallpaper used to cover the walls at the time. Cleo McVicker decided to make a cleaner to clean wallpaper of dust deposits. His son started playing with that rubber, and that’s how the production of Play-Doh began but for completely different purposes.

The phrase “necessity is the mother of all invention” is used to describe how creative people can be when trying to survive or fighting to protect their loved ones. But humanity also has a long history of fantastic inventions and inventors who had room to explore and discover. These play-based inventions show that play encourages multi-faceted problem-solving and encourages creative solutions. That’s how the famous Albert Einstein, explaining his creative process, emphasised that the most important part is combinatory play. Recent research on this topic suggests that play fosters individual and team creativity by facilitating the cognitive, affective, and motivational dimensions of the creative process.

EXPO exhibitions bring the world together in a large and collective endeavour to find solutions to the challenges humanity is facing, and the theme of the specialised EXPO exhibition in Belgrade is “Play for Humanity: Sports and Music for All”. This means that the exhibition in Belgrade deals with the importance of playing as an important part of human development and evolution, not only in early childhood but throughout life. Play for humanity reflects global matters and challenges of further human development in a rapidly changing digital and technological society. About 120 countries, international organisations, and companies will have the opportunity to respond to the given theme by presenting through various programmes and activities on a 25-hectare exhibition space, and we will find out how play, as a human superpower, can offer some new solutions for the future, as has been done many times throughout the history of mankind.