Wednesday, January 03, 2007

The Greatest Canadian Invention


I don’t really like the idea of kids watching hours and hours of TV, but tonight Hubby and I let the boys watch The Greatest Canadian Invention on CBC.

Certainly, many countries have been responsible for creating useful inventions that help us with our every day life. I was interested to see that some of these important creations were ones I knew were by Canadians, while others really surprised me. (I had no clue!)

Here are a few more reasons to be proud to be Canadian, eh?! : ) Here’s the list that was on TGCI (in alphabetical order):

Alkaline long-lasting battery – 1959 (Lewis Urry)
Ardox spiral nail- 1954 (Allan Dove)
Automatic lubricating cup- 1872 (Elijah McCoy) click on the CBC website for this one, otherwise it just sounds obscene!
Basketball- 1892 (James Naismith) there has been lots of debate in the past on this one.
Birch bark canoe- (First peoples)
Blackberry- 1999 (Mike Lazaridis)
Bloody Caesar- 1969 (Walter Chell) seriously? I had no clue!
CANADARM- 1975 (SPAR AEROSPACE/NRC)
Caulking gun- 1894 (Theodore Witte)
Cobalt-60 "Bomb" Cancer Treatment- 1951 (Harold Johns)
CPR Mannequin: ACTAR 911- 1989 (Dianne Croteau, Richard Brault)
Crash position indicator- CPI –1957 (Harry Stevinson)
Electric oven- 1892 (Thomas Ahearn) Didn't know this was Canadian either.
Electric wheelchair- 1952 (George Klein) or this one!
Electron microscope- 1938 (James Hillier, Albert Prebus)
Electronic music synthesizer- 1945 (Hugh Le Caine)
Explosives vapour detector- 1985 (Lorne Elias)
Five pin bowling- 1908 (Thomas E. Ryan)
Steam fog horn- 1853 (Robert Foulis)
Goalie mask- 1959 (Jacques Plante)
Green garbage bag- 1950 (Harry Wasylyk, Larry Hansen, Frank Plomp)
G-suit- 1941 (Wilbur Rounding Franks)
Instant mashed potatoes- 1962 (Edward Asselbergs) who on earth eats instant mashed potatoes?
Instant replay- 1955 (CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada)
Insulin, treatment for diabetes- 1921 (Frederick Banting, Charles Best)
JAVA programming language- 1994 (James Arthur Gosling)
Key frame animation- 1969 (Nestor Burtnyk, Marcelli Wein)
Lacrosse- (First peoples)
Light bulb- 1874 (Henry Woodward, Mathew Evans) Lots of dispute over this one too.
Marine screw propeller- 1833 (John Patch)
Marquis wheat- 1908 (Sir Charles Saunders)
Pablum- 1930 (Alan Brown, Theodore Drake, Frederick Tisdall) Didn't know this was Canadian
Pacemaker- 1950 (John Hopps, Wilfred Bigelow, John Callaghan)
Paint roller- 1940 (Norman Breakey)
Plexiglas- 1931 (William Chalmers)
Poutine- 1957 (Fernand Lachance) yeah, baby! But you can only eat real poutine in Quebec. Anywhere else is not 'authentic'. You need the special frites sauce! I don't get to eat poutine often (thank goodness, because it's really not good for your health...and I won't eat it unless it's real poutine--only when I go back to visit family in Quebec...but I am a poutine snob!! LOL!
Radio voice transmission- 1900 (Reginald Fessenden)
Retractable beer carton handle- 1957 (Steve Pasjack)
Robertson screw- 1908 (Peter Robertson)
Self-propelled combine harvester- 1937 (Thomas Carroll)
Separable baggage check- 1882 (John Mitchell Lyons)
Ski-doo – 1922 (Armand Bombardier)
Snowblower- 1925 (Arthur Sicard) had no idea this was Canadian either
Standard time- 1878 (Sandford Fleming)
Telephone- 1876 (Alexander Graham Bell)
UV degradable plastics- 1971 (James Guillet)
Walkie-Talkie- 1942 (Donald L. Hings)
WEEVAC 6- 1980’s (Wendy Murphy)
Wonderbra- 1964 (Louise Poirier) For real???
Zipper- 1913 (Gideon Sundback) Had no clue.

What do you think the greatest Canadian invention is?

I’d have to say IMO, it’s a toss up between: insulin, the pacemaker, electric oven, the telephone, the light bulb, and the zipper. I’d probably choose insulin if I really had to choose one invention though. Oh... and poutine, since I’m from Quebec! LOL!

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hmmm didn't know some of those were Canadian inventions. Very informative Chrissy, oh and apologies for the snog and shag question for you ladies. We had a really good piss up the other night. Way too many rounds of sake and Sapporo beer. Yuka was not impressed.

Anonymous said...

Very cool! I had no idea some of those things were invented by Canadians! Neat!

Anonymous said...

Lacrosse makes you proud to be Canadian?

Unknown said...

LOL! Stephen, I used to love playing Lacrosse! I also love watching Lacrosse games! I know...I'm a dork and I admit it! :)

Anonymous said...

Wonderbra's Canadian??????

Anonymous said...

I think The GREATEST CANADIAN invention is the electric wheelchair; because George Klein had a vision for those disabled from World War II and even when Canadian Manufacturers didn't step up to the plate to build his invention, he brought it too the states. He wanted his invention to follow through, now that's taking initiative. George Klein didn't stop there either! He also built numerous things that are commonly used in Today's society.

Anonymous said...

I think that that the zipper is the greatest canadian invention because it's on a lot of clothe's today. Although sometime's zipper's break or get stuck. I still think it was the best invention.

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City girl moves to the country, falls in love, and marries a farmer. She tries to incorporate her city ways with her new country lifestyle and blogs to keep in touch with friends, family & students who live far, far away :) Can this city girl go country? Watch as she learns all sorts of exciting things about life on the farm and in a small rural community. *UPDATE* We are now parents! Our baby girl was born on Nov. 11, 2008 (at 28 weeks gestation- 12 weeks premature, but she's quite the trooper)!!!
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