he mixed silicone oil with boric acid attempting to create a synthetic rubber for the US military during World War II what he got instead was a stretchy bouncy substance it picked up ink from newspapers and shattered if you hit it with a hammer but the government didn’t see its potential so he set it aside later a copywriter decided to Market it as a toy called Silly Putty which went on to make the list of alltime greatest toys enough has been made to wrap around the earth three times