Famous Australian Ideas and Innovations

You're going to be very surprised at some of the great inventions Australians have been responsible for...

Heck, Aussie are even responsible for turning dishwater and beer into electricity, AND running cars on nothing but water!

This page presents a variety of those for your perusal - please REFRESH to see a different selection of ten Aussie innovations.

To find out more, can I suggest you visit
The Power House Museum and Questacon

• In 1983, Australia II won the America's Cup in part due to the revolutionary winged keel designed by Ben Lexcen.
  
  
• It wasn't the first Australian rotary clothesline with a winding mechanism which allowed the frame to be raised and lowered, but the Hills Clothes Hoist (developed by Lance Hill in Adelaide in 1945) was certainly the most successful.
  
  
• Racecam - the lightweight, fixed camera first used in car racing - was developed by Geoff Healey in 1979 and has changed sports broadcasting worldwide.
  
  
• The first Black Box Flight Recorder recorded the pilot's voice and some instrument readings was invented in 1958 by Dr David Warren from Melbourne. It is now used in aircraft worldwide.
  
  
• The first ultrasound scanner was built in 1961 at the ultrasonics institute in the Commonwealth Department of Health by George Kossoff and David Robinson.
  
  
• In 1956 Jack Grant of QANTAS invented the inflatable aircraft escape slide which could also be used as a raft on water. Such slides are now standard safety equipment worldwide.
  
  
• In 1929, Alfred Traeger invented the Pedal Wireless - a pedal-operated generator which was connected to a wireless
  
  
• QANTAS inaugurated a pioneering round the world airline service with two planes taking off from Melbourne in 1958.
  
  
• The world's first Plastic Banknotes were invented in Australia in 1988. They last longer and are harder to counterfeit than paper money.
  
  
• The radio telescope in Parkes, NSW, received and relayed to the world pictures of the first moon landing in 1969
  
  

Hit REFRESH to reload the page to see another random selection of more Aussie ideas :)

Written by coais

About Stephen Spry

Stephen Spry is a freelance web designer and Internet publisher. He has been working online, full-time, since 1995 after an 18-year career as a high school Careers Adviser. Stephen operates several websites and web directories in a variety of niches. His main web design business can be found here » Come On Aussie.