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

• It's now the most popular form of house construction. But, since 1928 brick veneer cladding has changed the face of Australia's urban and rural environments.
  
  
• The original heart pacemaker was invented by a doctor in 1926 from the Sydney Crown Street Women's Hospital.
  
  
• The Wiltshire Staysharp Knife - a knife sheath which sharpens the knife each time it was withdrawn - was invented in 1965.
  
  
• In 1982, the dual flush toilet (dunny) was responsible for initial savings in excess of 32000 litres of water per household a year. Pretty important in a dry continent!
  
  
• The CSIRO developed a snake antivenom in 1968 which acted against the poison from most Australian snakes.
  
  
• The Federation wheat strain, resistant to fungal rust disease and drought, was released by William Farrar in 1901.
  
  
• The first ever radio lesson was broadcast from the Royal Flying Doctor Base in Alice Springs in 1950 on the School of the Air.
  
  
• John McGarvie Smith donated his secret discovery of an anthrax vaccine to the NSW Government in 1918.
  
  
• Shepherd Castors are strong, easily manoeuvrable dome-shaped castors for furniture, and replaced traditional pivoted wheel castors. They were developed by George Shepherd in 1946.
  
  
• The Sydney GPO had the world's first mechanised Letter Sorting Machine in 1930. It was developed by an engineer with the Postmaster General's Department.
  
  

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.