I have a theory that most of us take for granted all the inventions, break-throughs, clever ideas and technology that we use every day.
It’s pretty cool that you can be hurtling along the highway at 100k’s chatting on your mobile phone, from the passenger seat of course, with someone on the other side of the world in another time zone who’s travelling in the opposite direction at 150k’s. Truly amazing don’t you think?
So, I got to thinking about all the wonderful things that make my life easier, more fun and more fulfilling. And, I’ve started a list of people I’d like to thank one day. If they were alive of course.
Here’s where I got to:
- The Dishwasher inventor
- The Wright Brothers
- The Coen Brothers
- The Ethiopian goat herder who discovered coffee
- Charles Todd for connecting Australia to the rest of the world
- The Beatles
- Steve Jobs
But, I’m sure there are heaps more. What do you think?
I’d love to add your suggestions to the list.
Paul Cornwell is a Partner at BCM
Adolphe Sax, for putting the Sax in Saxophone.
Coupled with the creator of my vintage 1950′s Otto Link tenor sax mouthpiece. You sir, are a legend.
Oh, and the inventor of the magic roller door.
And post-it notes.
And Charlie Sheen – because who knows what could happen there.
I’d be thanking the inventors of Berocca, the Slap Chop and the mp3.
If I was a parent I think I would be praising the inventor of disposable nappies.
I would like to shake the hands of the plethora of Scottish Inventors who invented, well basically, everything!
But what exactly did they invent, I hear you say?
Please find below a great wee poem by Tom Anderson Cairns which perfectly illustrates the greatness of the Scots:
Wha’s Like Us – Damn Few And They’re A’ Deid!
The average Englishman, in the home he calls his castle, slips into his national costume, a shabby raincoat, patented by chemist Charles Macintosh from Glasgow, Scotland. En route to his office he strides along the English lane, surfaced by John Macadam of Ayr, Scotland.
He drives an English car fitted with tyres invented by John Boyd Dunlop of Dreghorn, Scotland, arrives at the station and boards a train, the forerunner of which was a steam engine, invented by James Watt of Greenock, Scotland. He then pours himself a cup of coffee from a thermos flask, the latter invented by Dewar, a Scotsman from Kincardine-on-Forth.
At the office he receives the mail bearing adhesive stamps invented by James Chalmers of Dundee, Scotland.
During the day he uses the telephone invented by Alexander Graham Bell, born in Edinburgh, Scotland.
At home in the evening his daughter pedals her bicycle invented by Kirkpatrick Macmillan, blacksmith of Dumfries, Scotland.
He watches the news on his television, an invention of John Logie Baird of Helensburgh, Scotland, and hears an item about the U.S. Navy, founded by John Paul Jones of Kirkbean, Scotland.
He has by now been reminded too much of Scotland and in desperation he picks up the Bible only to find that the first man mentioned in the good book is a Scot, King James VI, who authorised its translation.
Nowhere can an Englishman turn to escape the ingenuity of the Scots.
He could take to drink, but the Scots make the best in the world.
He could take a rifle and end it all but the breech-loading rifle was invented by Captain Patrick of Pitfours, Scotland.
If he escapes death, he might then find himself on an operating table injected with penicillin, which was discovered by Alexander Fleming of Darvel, Scotland, and given an anaesthetic, which was discovered by Sir James Young Simpson of Bathgate, Scotland.
Out of the anaesthetic, he would find no comfort in learning he was as safe as the Bank of England founded by William Paterson of Dumfries, Scotland.
Perhaps his only remaining hope would be to get a transfusion of guid Scottish blood which would entitle him to ask “Wha’s Like Us”.
Translations available on request.
Jane
I hear you Jane. Scot(t)s are a pretty crafty bunch.
I’d be thanking the creator of the hair straightner, show me a woman who can live without her GHD!
Oh and Tampax of course!!!
I had no idea the Scotts were so canny Jane.
Oh, and I have a couple more to add to the list.
Willis Carrier (he invented air conditioning)
Whoever invented the BBQ
Jacques Heim & Louis Reard (they came up with the bikini in 1946)
Whoever invented wine …
I’m with you Michele plus cheers to the monk who discovered Champagne!
“I drink it when I’m happy and when I’m sad.
Sometimes I drink it when I’m alone.
When I have company, I consider it obligatory.
I trifle with it if I’m not hungry and drink it when I am. Otherwise I never touch it – unless I’m thirsty.” Madame Lilly Bollinger
Thomas Crapper – the inventor of the toilet (remember that as it comes up at Trivia Nights pretty regularly).
@Paul, pretty sure the ethiopean goat hereder was called Khaldi
The person who invented battery operated fish aerators.
And the generator.
Regardless of your politics you’d have to say Anna Bligh and Campbell Newman for the exceptional job each did in managing and dealing with the recent floods in SEQld.
Other people?
John Lennon
Ian Fraser
Albert Einstein
James Watson, Francis Crick, Maurice Wilkin, and Rosalind Franklin (for their work in discovering DNA)
Gandhi
Bill Bernbach
David Suzuki
Tim Berners-Lee (invented HTML markup language and the protocol used to request/ transmit web pages between web servers & browsers) and the other guys who had a major hand in inventing the internet(Bob Kahn and Vint Cerf) and www
Paul, I think you nailed it in one!
Yes, penicillin, anesthesia, flight, etc. were important inventions but The Dishwasher has them all on toast.
The Thing.
Mrs Gock (Les Gock’s mum), who owns the rights to plastic Chinese takeaway containers for the whole of Australia.
Nick wants to know, does it have to be a hand?
I would love to hug the person who invented Foxtel and TV in general, hair straighteners (especially on a rainy day) and cars.
the guys who’s going to invent the next big thing that will take over FACEBOOK!!!
From a nerdy person who likes numbers – I would definitely say the calculator.
The infra red remote. Do you remember when they came with a cable attached?
hmmm I’d have to say I’ d thank my Grandparents for being a lovely reminder on how it was and how lucky we really are to have all of these great things. Keeping in mind of course some of the great virtues we had before all of these came along.
Sue Stanley – three time world aerobics champion. She put Australia at the top of the international ladder and transformed aerobics from a fun competition into a sport.
I am yet another girl who would love to thank the inventor of the GHD. And of course whoever invented the black box flight recorder and the razor!
The person who invented the wheel
Pity this isn’t Facebook otherwise I would “like” Michele Prescott’s comment
I would “like” Bill’s dishwasher comment.
I’d have to agree with Steve Jobs – what a visionary and an inspiration!
I would shake Corny’s hand for being the most commented blog entry in BCM history
Sliced Bread. I mean c’mon this is the mother of all inventions. I guess the inventor of the Knife plays a part too.
On that note Aaron, how about the inventor of butter? I mean, bread and butter = best combo.
Touché.
Butter > Margarine
Like Nicole I’m also a nerdy person who likes numbers, so I’d have to say the inventor of the spreadsheet, it helps make lovely graphs out of those numbers too. And something else nerdy, spell checker.
I think all of the USA would like to thank the inventor of the drive-through.
My journeys in the US have led me to drive-through Starbucks, Krispy Kreme Donuts, ATM’s and Pharmacies.
“Keeping USA fit and healthy since 1947!!”
I’d like to shake the hand of the guy who wrote “Boogie Nights”… Great movie. But only after he’s washed his hands.
Did we get Alexander Graham Bell in there? How would we be without the telephone as an invention?
Though the device has morphed beyond recognition, the delight in hearing a loved voice is the same.
The person who invented those ‘The Goddess is Dancing’ bumper stickers.
The fella who invented the portable ground-level compression device. I think his name was Jack Hammer.
milli vanilli.. i feel they really encompassed what the 90s was all about. I save a dance for MV.. most nights.
Whoever thought up blogs. What a visionary.
The man who invented taco’s, or any food that comes in wrap form.
List of English inventions and discoveries:
Adjustable spanner, Aerial Steam Carriage, Airborne lifeboat, Analytical Engine, Automatic Computing Engine, Ballbarrow, Bayko, Bessemer process, Bird’s Custard, Blücher (locomotive)
Bombe, Bouncing bomb, Bowden cable, Carbonated water, Carey Foster bridge, Cat flap, Cat’s eye (road), Catch me who can, Cavity magnetron, Celluloid, Coggeshall slide rule, Collodion process, Collodion-albumen process, Colossus computer, Concertina
Congreve rocket, Continuous track, Dakeyne hydraulic disc engine, Davy lamp, Difference engine, Digital audio player, Disc brake
Dry platem, Electrical generator, Fax, Fire extinguisher, Flat glass, Float glass, Francis turbine, GGeordie lamp, Globotype, Grasshopper escapement, Gridiron pendulum
Hansom cab, High explosive squash head
Horstmann suspension, Hovercraft, Hydraulics
HydrofoilIIncandescent light bulb, Incineration, Iris recognition, Jet engine, Kelvin bridge, Otis King, Lawn mower, Lifeboat (rescue), Linear motor, Locomotion No 1, MOB boat, Machine gun, Magnifying glass, Mauveine, Meccano, Mechanical lubricator, Newtonian telescope
Parkesine, Paternoster, Perkin’s mauve
Pilot (locomotive), Pilot ACE, Playfair cipher, Portland cement, Power loom, Prime Meridian, Puffing Billy (locomotive), Refrigerator, Relational database, Resurgam, Rubber band, Sans Pareil, Seat belt, Seed drill, Sewing machine, Sheffield plate, Shrapnel shell, Sinclair C5, Sinclair Executive, Slide rule, Spinning jenny,
Spinning frame, Spinning mule, Stainless steel, Steam turbine, Stephenson’s Rocket, Sticky toffee pudding, Stocking frame, Submarine,
Sumlock ANITA calculator, Tank, The Eureka, The Salamanca, Throstle frame, Turing machine, Vacuum cleaner, Vacuum tube, Water frame, Wheatstone bridge, Windup radio, World Wide Web, ZX80, Spectrum
I hope ‘our’ fire extinguisher doesn’t dampen the Scot’s ego.
Big rubber pants designer. Don’t laugh. I had a chronic allergy to cotton, rayon, linen, muslin, nylon, lycra, polyester and denim for 48 years. Then I discovered rubber and I’ve been so very happy for three weeks now without a break.
Robin Banks.
Would you like a list of American inventions, Nat? Because I reckon we’d kick your sorry English @%*$… again. Just sayin’.
I’d include the people responsible for advancements in medical technology like pacemakers and defibrillators that allow us all to stay around for longer. On a lighter note I can’t forget Kenny Everett’s character Professor Heinrich Von Gitfinger. The pivotal moment in his career was inventing the rear view mirror. Evidently since then he’s never looked back!
Thanks to everyone who contributed to this really interesting discussion about the people who’ve been inspired to come up with wonderful inventions, ideas and new creations.
Our lives are so much better because of them.
Clever people…..we salute you!
Elvis Presley
Iggy Pop
Christopher Hitchens
And whoever invented sunscreen
From a born and bred Queenslander, I’d like to thank the dude that invented air conditioning. And double pluggers. And beer.
That VHS dude, i’d just really like to shake his hand.