# The greatest Canadian inventions **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 30, 2021, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-canadian-inventions/945337 "2021-06-30T17:02:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2021, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-canadian-inventions/945337/1 "2021-06-30T17:02:57Z")
There was a Canadian TV show about the inventions although I never heard of it. It’s an interesting list but a cursory search on many of them fails to turn up a Canadian inventor. > **[The Greatest Canadian Invention](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Greatest_Canadian_Invention)** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > > The Greatest Canadian Invention is a television mini-series originally aired on CBC Television. It is a spiritual sequel to The Greatest Canadian. > It began with people voting online which invention (out of 50) they considered the greatest Canadian invention. The show is a two-hour special, hosted by Bob McDonald (Quirks and Quarks), that premiered on 3 January 2007 at 8:00 EST. > The 22 commentators for the show are: ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2021, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-canadian-inventions/945337/2 "2021-06-30T19:44:52Z")
Joseph-Armand Bombardier is famous (in Canada at any rate) for his innovations to the design of the snowmobile. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2021, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-canadian-inventions/945337/3 "2021-06-30T19:48:43Z")
Hadn’t heard about this (being that I live in the States, not surprising), but it brings to mind an exhibit I saw at the Ontario Science Center about the many inventions of Alexander Graham Bell. Bell’s claimed by both the US and Canada. He worked in both (and did much of his telephone work in the Boston area), but I think he spent more time in Canada. Besides the telephone and related inventions (like the selenium-based photophone) he also came up with a tetrahedral construction method that looked like a giant triangular TinkerToy, a Composting toilet, a metal detector, a hydrofoil, and a buncha other stuff. None of which appears to be on the list. And … birch bark canoe? Considering that it was invented by the local Indians long before there was a Canada or a United States, does it really belong on that list? Wasn’t Plexiglas invented by Germans and the British? The Wikipedia page doesn’t list Canadians. Similarly, Zippers seem to have mostly a US pedigree. Others on the list – the Telephone, Basketball, were invented in the US by Canadians, so I got no quibble with that. And there’s no doubt about poutine or the Wonderbra. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2021, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-canadian-inventions/945337/4 "2021-06-30T19:54:56Z")
There’s also Sandford Fleming (promoted Standard Time and time zones, but was not the first to propose something along those lines) and Banting and Best (isolated insulin). Jacques Plante is famous for his goalie mask, too (although others had occasionally used masks of various kinds before him). ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2021, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-canadian-inventions/945337/5 "2021-06-30T20:07:27Z")
The claim to the marine screw propeller seems highly dubious to me. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2021, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-canadian-inventions/945337/6 "2021-07-01T05:56:56Z")
I was surprised by the absence of telephone, radio and trans-Atlantic flight. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2021, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-canadian-inventions/945337/7 "2021-07-01T06:13:05Z")
The Dildo was invented by Newfoundland fishermen, who used it as a removable peg to lock a dory oar in place. The word was even applied to a town in Newfoundland, which appears on maps as early as 1711. The modern dildo has become a multi-purpose tool. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2021, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-canadian-inventions/945337/8 "2021-07-01T12:36:04Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > The modern dildo has become a multi-purpose tool. Like the Swiss Army Dildo, which includes an ivory toothpick. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2021, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-canadian-inventions/945337/9 "2021-07-01T20:29:13Z")
I like the corkscrew myself…