Chanel No. 5

First created in 1920, Coco Chanel commissioned perfumer Ernest Beaux who created 10 scents and labelled them 1-5 and 20-24; Coco chose No. 5 and the perfume, which now draws in a $100m a year, was born. Rumours suggest that the aroma was created in error, when Beaux's assistant mistakenly added excessive quantities of chemical adelhyde.