Possible example: Laennec’s invention of the stethoscope in 1816. Of course we would’ve come up with it eventually. But note that Laennec got his inspiration from kids playing with sticks and from his prudishness about putting his ear to a woman’s chest.
Consider that people have been using sound in diagnosis for millenia. But even something as simple as tapping a finger on another (to e.g. feel and hear the liquid in e.g. your lungs (which you don’t want)) was introduced in the mid 1700s by Auenbrugger (though some medieval guy had it too? Not going to count it since it seemed to not be advanced further) and the method also influenced Laennec. Auenbrugger was inspired by his father’s wine business—you tap the barrel to see how much fluid is in it!
So, consider: anyone ‘could have’ come up with either of these for… literal millenia? But they didn’t? And the main inspiration was stuff most medical practicioners weren’t looking at? Note that Laennec had some experience in flute making that helped him make his stethoscopes.
Lastly (Corvisart)[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Nicolas_Corvisart] appears to have helped keep the percussion technique of Auenbrugger alive. Laennec learned of percussion from Corvisart’s translation of Auenbrugger—and Corvisart expanded on his findings of how to use the sound info. This isn’t a fundamental discovery, but it looks like he did have significant impact.
But the clockwise rule only tells you anything when more than two people are there at the same time. Because A < B < A in clockwise order.