Great Canadian Inventions – #TGCBB

I am very proud to call Canada my home! We have so much to be thankful for in this great and diverse country, Canada. As part of the Great Canadian Blog Bash ’13, I wanted to learn more about what makes Canada great so I did some research into Canadian inventions (some of them shocked me!). Here are some of the top ones which I am proud to say are Canadian!

1. Insulin: Insulin is used in the treatment of Diabetes  and was discovered by Dr. Banting and Dr. Best in Toronto in 1921. They were also awarded the Nobel Prize in 1923 for this discovery.

2. Five pin bowling: I did not know this and I love to bowl! Thomas Ryan invented this in 1908 in Toronto at his Toronto bowling club in response to customer complaints that the ten pin game was too strenuous. He cut down the tenpins down to about 75% of their size and used hand sized rubber balls.

3. Electric wheelchair: The electric wheelchair was invented in 1952 by George Klein to assist injured veterans after World War II.

4.  Wonderbra: The Wonderbra was designed in 1964 by Louise Poirier for the company, Canadelle. It was designed to lift and create cleavage.

5.  Canadarm: The Canadarm formally known as the Shuttle Remote Manipulator System (SRMS) is one of Canada’s significant contributions to the space program. It was developed in 1975 and is used to capture items in space.

6.  Snow blower: Arthur Sicard completed his first prototype of the snow blower in 1925 based on a concept he had developed in 1894. He went on to found Sicard Industries in Quebec.

7.  Goalie Mask: Jacques Plante, a Canadian professional hockey goaltender, who’s hockey career ranged from 1947-1975 developed and tested many versions of the hockey mask. He was also the first goal tender to wear a hockey mask.

8.  Robertson Screw: Peter Robertson was a Canadian inventor and salesman who popularized the square-socket drive for screws. He produced his screws, that were patented in 1908, in his Milton, Ontario factory. The Fisher Company, one of his first customers, who also built car bodies for Ford Canada used over 700 screws in its Model T car!

9. Poutine: Yum – poutine! Could not leave this popular Canadian dish out! It originates from Quebec in the late 1950s. It is a delicious dish made from french fries, gravy and cheese curds.