Canadians are credited with some very important inventions, in fact, that make every day life more manageable. In honour of Canada Day, here is a list of inventions I didn't know were credited to Canadians.
Invented in: 1854
Nova Scotia's Samuel McKeen attached a device to the side of a carriage, measuring miles according to the turning of its wheels which marked the beginning to the odometer we know on vehicles today.
Devices that serve a similar distance-tracking purpose dot history books as far back as Alexander the Great circa 336 BC.
Invented in: 1884
Jelly was sure to thank Canadian Marcellus Gilmore Edson for its savoury partner. While the origin of peanut butter can be traced back to the Aztecs, who ground roasted peanuts into a paste, it is the Canadian and Montreal native who patented the concoction in 1884 and therefore gets credit for "inventing" peanut butter.
Invented in: 1908
The Robertson screw was a Canadian innovation, invented by P.L. Robertson, for whom the hardware was named. The design has become a North American standard, the square head being a more ideal solution than other screws for many jobs, and in fact was released decades before the Phillips screw (the cross - for those who don't know the difference).
Invented in: 1913
How else would we keep our ski jackets closed in the chilly winter months? Canadian electrical engineer Gideon Sundback made the first modern-day zipper in 1913, improving upon models of inventors before him.
Invented in: 1925
There is no country more appropriate for the snow blower's birthplace than Canada, where the yard tool was born in 1925. That year, Arthur Sicard built the first snow blower in Montreal, consisting of three sections: a four-wheel drive truck chassis and motor, a scoop and blower with adjustable chutes.
Invented in: 1940
Norman Breakey of Toronto first released the paint roller, ending centuries of brush strokes with one of the greatest how-did-I-not-think-of-that products in labour history.
Invented in: 1950
The green kitchen garbage bag was invented by trio Harry Wasylyk, Larry Hansen and Frank Plomp from Winnipeg and Ontario. They dreamed up the garbage bags in 1950, Hansen sold the invention to his company, which later marketed them under the Glad garbage bag brand.
Invented in: 1950
John Hopps, after observing cardio-thoracic surgeons at Toronto General Hospital, developed a device that used vacuum tube technology to pace the heart, taking power from an AC wall socket. It was a bit dangerous, but the external pacemaker nonetheless laid the foundation for the first implanted pacemaker, installed in Sweden in a patient eight years later.
Canadian inventors have improved lives the world over.
Eureka, eh?
