Our most famous foods are maple syrup and poutine. Our biggest exports are lumber and comedians. But how many of you knew that these 5 world famous inventions were born in Canada?
1. IMAX
I recently saw Gravity on IMAX, and it was stunning. How can you go wrong with 72 × 52.8 ft screens displaying the absolute best resolution on the world’s biggest cameras? My wife and I couldn’t drive home right away because we both actually felt like we were in space. Yes, IMAX is a Canadian company, established in 1970 (after years of trial and error), and is now in 679 countries. Forget Netflix!
Ok, so you might not think this is anything to brag about. But be honest. How many unnecessary egg tragedies have been avoided because of this ingenious piece of cardboard engineering? I imagine when Joseph Coyle of Smithers British Columbia came up with the design in 1911, it was mainly because he was tired of eggs exploding in his pockets on the way back from the market.
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3. INSULIN
When medical insulin was created in 1922, Frederick Banting, Charles Best and James Collip revolutionized the medical world forever. These Canadians made it possible to regulate dangerously low insulin levels in people, and therefore make diabetes a manageable disease. Ok, so it’s no egg carton, but it’s not bad!
As if 10 pin bowling isn’t fun enough! Thomas F. Ryan from Toronto, created 5-pin bowling in 1909 to put a spin on the classic game. With a smaller bowling ball and only 5 ‘pins’ at the end of the alley, some people feel this version is faster and more challenging than the regular game. Personally I don’t really care. I love bowling for the shoes.
5. THE G-SUIT
The G-Suit is a flight suit worn by aviators and astronauts who are subject to high levels of acceleration force (g). It is designed to prevent a black-out and Loss Of Consciousness caused by the blood pooling in the lower part of the body when under acceleration, thus depriving the brain of blood. The first g-suits were developed by a team led by Wilbur R. Franks at the University of Toronto’s Banting and Best Medical Institute in 1941. Not a bad contribution to the world, eh?
When you travel and/or study in Canada, you need to know information like this. Why? Because when you go home you’re expected to be an expert on the country, right? You need to know how the culture works! Impress your friends! Shock your neighbours! Impress your teachers at CultureWorks!
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