Did anybody in Australia invent anything interesting?

Answer 1

Absolutely. The best known Australian invention is probably the clothes hoist, invented in 1926 by Gillbert Toyne. But here's a list of some others:

1856 - The refrigerator was invented by James Harrison

1856 - The secret ballot system for voting was invented by Henry Chapman.

1874 - The first underwater torpedo was invented by Louis Brennan

1889 - The electric drill was invented by Arthur Arnot

1912 - The jet ski (obviously not quite like the modern one) was invented by brothers Harry and Jack McLaren.

1912 - A proposal for the army tank was submitted by Lance de Mole to the British War Office

1923 - Vegemite was invented by Dr Cyril Callister.

1928 - The electric pacemaker was first tested at Sydney's Crown Street Women's Hospital.

1953 - Solar hot water was developed by the CSIRO.

1958 - The black box flight recorder was developed by Dr David Warren.

1961 - First ultrasound equipment developed by workers at the Australian Dept. of Health

1965 - The inflatable escape slide that is used on aircraft was invented by Jack Grant of Qantas.

1979 - The cochlear implant, also known as the bionic ear, was first developed by Prof. Graeme Clark.

1980 - The dual flush toilet was invented by Caroma employee, Bruce Thompson.

1992 - Spray on skin was developed by Dr Fiona Wood. (She received an Australian of the Year award in 2005).

1993 - The world's first underwater pc was developed by Bruce Macdonald.

1996 - An anti flu medication was developed by scientists of the pharmacy dept. of Monash University.

1996 - internet Wifi was developed by a CSIRO team.

1990's - Cervical cancer vaccine was developed at the University of Queensland.

2003 - "Blast Glass" or "Stop Shot" was invented by Peter Stephinson.

In progress - The bionic eye is currently under development with the expertise that was gained during the development of the bionic ear.

There are so many more, the list is almost endless. Aussies are an inventive group.