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

• The Surf Lifesaving Reel was first demonstrated at Bondi Beach in 1906. It was designed by Lyster Ormsby.
  
  
• The Federation wheat strain, resistant to fungal rust disease and drought, was released by William Farrar in 1901.
  
  
• 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 orbital internal combustion engine was developed in 1972 by engineer Ralph Sarich of Perth, Western Australia.
  
  
• In 1906, the story about the Kelly Gang was the world's first feature length film.
  
  
• 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.
  
  
• 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.
  
  
• Penicillin was trialled successfully on humans by Howard Florey, and went into production in 1941 to help victims of World War II.
  
  
• Modems the size of a shoebox led the NetComm company to develop in 1985 the Smart Modem - a string of Australian-designed, faster and smaller modems with better features.
  
  
• 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.