世界大戰爲世界帶來的最成功的十大產品(上)

War is hell. But for a few opportunistic and enterprising visionaries, it can also be a springboard to business success. Two of the biggest, bloodiest global conflicts in human history did more than rewrite maps and change the balance of international power — they provided the world with some of its most successful brands ever.

戰爭即地獄。但是對於那些投機取巧，有魄力有遠見的人來說，戰爭也能有助於事業的成功。兩次人類歷史上最大、流血最多的世界大戰不僅僅是重新劃分世界版圖，改變國際力量平衡，也給世界帶來了一些古往今來最成功的品牌。

ant Noodles

10.方便麪

The journey of this inventor and businessman goes through not one, but two World War II occupations, and even into space. Born in Taiwan in 1910, Momofuku Ando was expatriated to Japan during their occupation of his island home. After the war in the Pacific came to a conclusion, Ando found himself under occupation by American troops and battling hunger alongside the newly-defeated Japanese.

發明方便麪的是個商人，同時也是個發明家。第二次世界大戰期間，他曾兩次被投入監獄。之後他發明的方便麪成爲了太空食品。1910年安藤百福出生於臺灣，日本侵佔臺灣期間，他移居日本。太平洋戰爭結束後，安藤發現自己也處在美軍的統治之下，和剛剛戰敗的日本人一樣，都在同飢餓做鬥爭。

It took Ando several years before his idea for cheap noodles went into mass-production, but after several attempts he finally found a formula that worked. College students in need of cheap sustenance can thank the endless food lines, desperation, and lack of surviving infrastructure in the wasted cities of Japan for giving Momofuku the inspiration and drive to develop his signature Cup of Noodles.

安藤花費了數年的時間才使廉價麪條按照他計劃的那樣，進入大量生產，但是在多次試驗後，他才終於找到一個有效的方法。那些在被遺棄的日本城市中，缺乏基本生存必需品的大學生們，應該感謝當時永無止境的飢餓，感謝那時深不見底的絕望，還有保障人們生存的基礎設施的匱乏——是這些鼓舞着安藤百福發明了杯麪。

nald's French Fries

9.麥當勞薯條

Graduating from pigs to potatoes, high school dropout J.R. Simplot developed the first ever freeze-dried potatoes and vegetables for the U.S. Army, right when international logistics threatened to derail Allied efforts in Europe. The longer shelf-life and easy reconstitution of Simplot's frozen veggies helped ensure troops overseas could be kept stocked with the food they needed to fuel their march through Europe.

從“養豬大戶”到“土豆大王”，高中輟學的辛普勞首次爲美國軍隊發明了凍乾的土豆和蔬菜，此時正值國際後勤威脅要減少供應，打亂同盟國在歐洲的計劃。辛普勞的凍蔬菜保存時間長且食用方便，爲海上軍隊的必需食物供應提供了保障，確保他們在穿越歐洲的行軍途中有足夠的食糧。

When the end of the war dried up demand from his biggest customer, Simplot signed a contract with one Ray Kroc to provide frozen French fries. Fast-forward some 50 years, and Simplot's potato empire has permanently forced the association of “Idaho” and “potato” by providing McDonald's with more than 50% of its French fries worldwide.

隨着戰爭的結束，最大的消費者對辛普勞冷凍食品的需求量幾近枯竭，辛普勞於是和雷·克拉克簽署了一份合同，向後者提供冷凍薯條。經過50年的快速發展，由於麥當勞公司超過50%的薯條都是由辛普勞公司提供，後者的土豆帝國使“愛達荷州”和“土豆”長久地聯繫在了一起。

ical Fertilizers

8.化肥

Back before the abundance of cheap food drove the world's population to unsustainable levels, agriculture was limited by the amount of nitrogen found in soil. While scientists had already discovered the link between nitrogen levels and crop yields, the fertilizer industry didn't really explode until it literally started making explosives. Starting in World War I, the chemical research of Fritz Haber allowed the German army to douse its enemies in deadly chlorine. In World War II the Allied Powers took the Haber Process further by manufacturing copious amounts of munitions through nitrogen synthesis. At the end of the war, these industrial-scale efforts were re-purposed to produce chemical fertilizers.

在大量廉價食品使世界人口增長到無法控制的境地之前，農業的發展一直都受到土地氮容量的限制。儘管科學家們早已發現氮元素與作物產量間的聯繫，但直到化學元素被用於製作炸藥，化肥工業才真正開始蓬勃發展。第一次世界大戰期間，化學家弗裏茨·哈勃曾把德軍的俘虜浸入具有致命毒性的氯水裏來做研究。第二次世界大戰時期，同盟國開始通過氮合成法大批量製造武器彈藥。世界大戰結束後，戰時軍工業性質的研究成果則被用來生產化肥。

ons

7.衛生巾

The world's favorite feminine hygiene brand didn't start as a sponge for ambiguous blue water. The haphazard medical conditions of World War I did more to kill troops than the actual fighting. To improve the situation, manufacturing company Kimberly-Clark developed a lightweight, highly absorbent gauze known as Cellucotton to help American soldiers injured in combat.

世界上最受喜愛的女性健康護理品牌並不是從一個用於吸收不明藍色液體的海綿開始的。一戰時期，死於醫療條件落後的人比實際戰死的人要多得多。爲了改善這種狀況，金百利公司發明了一種輕便並具有超強吸收力的纖維棉，供那些在戰爭中受傷的士兵使用。

In the post-war years, leftover Cellucotton bandages were re-purposed by menstruating Red Cross nurses. Kimberly-Clark took note, and after a little tinkering produced their first sanitary napkin expressly for women's health. The Kotex model was replicated by Tampax in the midst of World War II, and over the following decades they refined their bandages-turned-pads into the cotton tubes we now know as tampons.

戰後，剩餘的纖維棉被當時紅十字會正值經期的護士們重新利用起來。對這種纖維棉稍做改進後，金伯利公司最終推出首個用於維護女性健康的衛生巾。之後出現的高潔絲衛生巾的模型就是複製了二戰中期出現的丹碧絲衛生棉條的產品，經過之後幾十年的不斷改進，女性的月經帶最終演變成了如今的衛生棉條。

on

6.特氟龍

During World War II, Allied scientists were tasked with keeping military weaponry one step ahead of the fascists. The Manhattan Project commenced with the goal of making the biggest boom since the start of the universe. Teflon, accidentally discovered in 1938 by Roy J. Plunkett, came under intense demand almost immediately when it was found to withstand the volatile ingredients of the first atomic bombs. After the Project culminated with the destruction of two Japanese cities, Teflon would be repurposed most famously as a non-stick coating in pots and pans, as well as a stain-resistant coating for clothing.

二戰期間，同盟國的科學家們承載着發明比法西斯分子更先進的軍用武器的使命。曼哈頓計劃着眼於製造出宇宙有史以來最大的原子彈。1938年，羅伊·普朗克特偶然發明了特氟龍，自從被發現可以抵抗第一顆原子彈中的揮發性成分，市面上對特氟龍的需求幾乎是瞬間暴漲。毀滅了兩個日本城市後，曼哈頓計劃圓滿完成。特氟龍也被改良爲廣泛應用於廚具中的不粘塗層，還有抗污漬的衣服面料。

審校：梅子九 編輯：旭旭 來源：前十網