To celebrate Australia Day last week, we took a look at the top 10 inventions Australia has given to the world. But narrowing the list down to just 10 was a difficult task. So today we’re going to have a quick look at some of the runners-up.
The Goon Bag
Or, as it’s officially known, the wine cask, was invented by Thomas Angove of South Australia as a way of pouring wine without letting it contact air. It changed the way wine was “enjoyed” all over the world.
Underwater Torpedo
Louis Brennan invented the underwater torpedo in 1874, a weapon with two propellors that were rotated by wires attached to the shore. Obviously the design improved over time.
Powered Flight
Lawrence Hargrave flew his box kite over five metres in 1894. Instead of patenting his idea, he shared it freely, and thus it’s widely regarded that the Wright Brothers are the fathers of flight.
The Notepad
It took 500 years of human evolution with single sheets of paper for Tasmanian stationer J.A. Birchall to decide to stick them together to form a notepad in 1902.
The Tank
South Australian Lance de Mole came up for the idea of a tank in 1912, but rather than keep it for Australians, he gave the idea to the British military. He eventually received £987 from the British Royal Commission for his invention.
Splayds
Aside from the fact that they should be called Sporks, William McArthur’s invention of a spoon, knife and fork in a single utensil was designed to make eating easier for the ladies in 1943
Inflatable Escape Slide
Jack Grant of Qantas changed aircraft safety in 1965 when he invented the inflatable escape slide. Weeeeeeeee!!!!
Dual Flush Toilet
Saving water since 1980, Bruce Thompson at Caroma created the dual-flush toilet, a device that now saves millions of litres each year
There are hundreds more, as well. Is there anything we missed that you’d automatically include?
Image: Wikimedia Commons
