Happy 150th Birthday Canada - Inventions and Innovations

Canada 150 song - Bryan Anderson

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMiFeu91Dms

It's not so much about being the first to patent a product but it is the person who comes up with the idea. These are a list of some of the inventions by Canadians. 

WonderBra

1. Wonderbra: Bras were around before this Canadian invention in 1961, but this one (Model 1300 a plunge push-up) was unique in the it was an underwire designed to lift and push the breasts together. 

2. Paint roller: Although it was invented in 1940 by Canadian Norman James Breakey, he was not able to produce enough of his new product to make it profitable. Others tweaked his design and claimed it for themselves.

3. Garbage Bag: Three inventors (all Canadians) were all working on versions of the plastic garbage bag at about the same time in the 1950's. Harry Wasylyk was experimenting with polyethelyne when he stumbled across this new application in his Winnipeg kitchen. Larry Hanson and Frank Plomp were the other innovators.

worlds oldest stick and puck

4. Ice Hockey: Stick and ball games have been around since the dawn of time in one form or another, but the sport that we know today as hockey was developed in Canada. Montreal held the first indoor hockey game on March 3 1875. 

5. Instant Replay: While the origin of the game of hockey has always been a hot topic, there is no question about the first instant replay. Technically "near instant", the play was reviewed minutes later thanks to George Retzlaff producer for the CBC's Hockey Night in Canada. Watching sports has never been the same since.

Jacque Plante goalie mask

6. Goaltender Mask: Jacques Plante who was a goalie for the Montreal Canadiens created and used a fibreglass mask to protect his face in 1959 and although leather masks had been used periodically in the past, Plante made it standard equipment for the prevention of injuries not just protection after-the-fact. 

7. Basketball: James Naismith invented the game in 1891 when he was a physical education teacher trying to keep the students busy when they couldn't go outside. It was a hit immediately. 

8. Walkie-Talkie: A young Toronto inventor by the name of Alfred J. Gross who was obsessed with radio, developed a handheld radio transmitter in 1934. It was picked up by the US military and improved upon for the war effort. In 1949 he invented the pager and later the technology for wireless telephones.

9. Standard Time: It's easy to take this for granted these days but 
In 1878 Sir Sanford Fleming who worked for the railway in Canada and foresaw tragedy and chaos without some coordination of time. Up until his proposal for a global standardization rather than individual communities choosing their own. He used Greenwich Mean Time as a base and then divided the globe into 24 time zones. 

Ganong Chocolate Company

10. Chocolate Bar: Although chocolate has been around for centuries in 1910 the Ganong Chocolate company from New Brunswick started selling individually wrapped chocolate bars molded with nuts.

11. Insulin: It was the discovery of the role that this naturally occurring hormone had in treating diabetes that was the Canadian invention. Up until 1922 diabetic patients lay comatose in hospitals while their families sat beside waiting for inevitable death. Banting, Best and Collip sold the patent for extracted insulin to the University of Toronto for about $.50!  

12. Road Lines: He didn't invent the line but in 1930 John D. Millar got the idea to paint lines on the road to separate the lanes of traffic on the roads. They were first painted on a portion of highway near the Quebec Ontario border and now those lines tell motorists on congested roads a lot more than which is the correct lane of travel.

13. Foghorn: In 1854, Robert Foulis invented the steam powered foghorn which ultimately saved a lot of lives and continues to be a familiar sound in coastal areas. There had been systems to warn ships away from danger previously but they were manually operated and often dangerous or even ineffective.

Macpherson gas mask

14. Gas Mask: During the first World War poisonous gas was first used as a weapon and the only defense was for the soldier to breath through a urine soaked piece of material and hope for the best. Dr. Cluny Macpherson from Newfoundland combined a helmet with a canvas hood complete with protective eye pieces and a breathing tube to create the first functional gas mask. The helmet was treated to absorb the chlorine commonly used in the attacks. 

15. Pacemaker: The first artificial Pacemaker (1950) weighed about 3 lbs and was so large that most of it was outside the patients body. But it was a successful outcome for Dr. William Bigelow, Dr. John Callaghan and engineer, John Hopps of Toronto despite the mobility issues (it needed to be plugged into a wall socket) and the pain. Now they are about the size of a pill and are inserted via a leg catheter. 

16. Pablum: Trying to stem the rate of infant mortality and diseases such as rickets, there had been many infant only food preparations available. However many were in biscuit form that babies had a hard time consuming. Pediatricians Frederick Tisdall, Theodore Drake and their team took their successful biscuit and turned it into a precooked and thoroughly dried cereal. Infant mortality due to nutritional deficiencies during 1930 went from 62% to 17% and for the next 25 years the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto received a royalty for every package sold funding continued research.

17. Caulking Gun: Theodore Witte was in the kitchen of his home pondering sealing up the gaps in his windows when he was inspired by the process of icing cakes. It was 1894 when he designed and patented a ratchet caulk and sealant gun is resembled a cake decorating tool. He called it a "puttying tool" and it didn't catch on. Now it is a standard piece of equipment in the tool box of every DIYer.

Robertson Screw

18. Robertson Screw: Have you ever had a screwdriver slip from its slot and gouge your hand? I have and so had Peter Lymburner Robertson. That's why in 1909 he patented his Robertson screw and screwdriver system. It is designed in such a way to facilitate one-handed operation. A screw can be placed on the driver and is held there as the screw is placed in position. FYI it is with "put it together at home" items coming from the US that I have encountered slot/flat headed screws. The world missed out because of a deal gone sour in a licensing agreement, Robertson refused to grant a license to Henry Ford for use on his assembly line. 


19. Snowmobile: At 15, Joseph-Armand Bombardier had designed a early version of a snowmobile operated by an open propeller for thrust. In later years, while many others had been experimenting with machines that could travel over snow, Bombardier invented a track system was effective over all types of snow conditions. His first commercial machines in 1937 carried up to 7 passengers. His dream was to provide means of travel for small northern towns that had no access to roads in winter months.

Bombardier first snowmobile

20. Snowthrower: First came Robert Carr Harris of Dalhousie, New Brunswick with his 1870's patented "Railway Screw Snow Excavator" which was a contraption mounted on a truck but why it was referred to as "railway" is something I don't understand. The first practical snowthrower began as a concept in the mid 1890's for Arthur Sicard and it took 33 before a prototype was revealed and sold as the "Sicard Snow Remover Snowblower" in Quebec. 

21. Egg Carton: Before the inception of the common egg carton, whole eggs were transported in egg baskets. The carton as we know it today was invented in 1911 by Joseph Coyle of British Columbia to solve a dispute over eggs being delivered too frequently broken.

22. Cobalt Therapy (Coblat-60 Therapy): This radiation cancer treatment was first used on a patient in 1951 and was able to penetrate deep seated tumors without damaging healthy tissue on the way. Dr. Harold E. Johns conducted his pioneer research into using nuclear power for a peaceful purpose at the University of Saskatchewan. 

23. Electric-powered Wheelchair: While working for the Research Council of Canada, George Klein is credited with inventing the electric wheelchair to assist the mobility of WWII veterans. 

Ardox Spiral Nail

24. Ardox Spiral Nail: Patented in 1954 by Allan B. Dove it has a spiral pattern on the shaft that make it easier to install as it is driven rather than pounded into wood. It is less likely to split the wood and it's grip is stronger and more secure than the common smooth nail. 

25. Blackberry: Research In Motion (RIM) the company behind the Blackberry started in 1996 selling pagers and other wireless data communication network devices often used by the military, police, firefighters and ambulance services. With each passing year new features were added, like push email, mobile telephone calling, text messaging, faxing and browsing. It was a work tool and the emerging consumer market wanted a device to play games and be social on. Blackberry fell out of favour with the mass market but it was the precursor of today's smart phone. 


Some other inventions credited to Canada and Canadians
- prosthetic hand
- Canadarm
- electron microscope
- alkaline battery
- integrated beer case handles
- peanut butter
- telephone
- light bulb
- 5 pin bowling
- lacrosse
- electric oven
- key frame animation
- I-max movie system
- variable pitch propeller
- table hockey
- process for distilling kerosene


CREDIT WHERE CREDIT IS DUE:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Canadian_inventions
https://blog.continentalcurrency.ca/canadian-inventions/

IMAGES
wonderbra: https://www.wonderbra.ca/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/1963_W1300WTH_NETv1-240x300.jpg
hockey stick: https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.1719628.1394229922!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_225/image.jpg
goalie mask: http://www.cybersciences.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/cheevers-color-mask-640x500.jpg
Ganong Chocolate: https://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/obj/002027/f1/nlc010064-v6.jpg
gas mask: https://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/obj/002027/f1/xx010216-v6.jpg
Robertson Screw: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fc/Robertson_screwdriver_patent_illustration.jpg
snowmobile: https://tce-live2.s3.amazonaws.com/media/media/75604e26-c578-4028-bf78-8e27cfd12092.jpg