Canadian Innovations
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CanadianStories of Canadian Innovations Innovation McIntosh Red Apple The McIntosh Red is a world-famous apple that was discovered in Ontario in 1811. John McIntosh, a settler from New York, found apple-tree seedlings as he cleared brush on his Dundela farm, near Morrisburg on the St Lawrence River. McIntosh transplanted the trees and one bore delicious fruit: a deep-red apple with tart flavour and tender white flesh. Over the decades, the McIntosh family propagated their unique apple by grafting scions, or cuttings, to other fruit trees in their orchard. Allan McIntosh, John’s son, continued this work. He established a McIntosh Red nursery in 1870 and sold trees to other orchardists. By the early 1900s, the McIntosh Red was popular across North America. Apple breeders, such as W. T. Macoun at the Central Experimental Farm in Ottawa, used the hardy McIntosh Red to create new varieties including Lobo, Cortland, Empire, and Spartan. Farm botanist and artist Faith Fyles recorded some of this breeding work in beautiful watercolours. And while new apple varieties like Gala and Honeycrisp have challenged the McIntosh Red’s supremacy, the McIntosh apple remains a favourite both for cooking and for eating fresh. Notably, the McIntosh Red inspired the name of the Macintosh computer. Jef Raskin, an Apple engineer, called the McIntosh “my favourite kind of eatin’ apple.” Allan McIntosh Ottawa, February 1908 beside a “McIntosh Red” apple tree, Hawker Hurricane The Hawker Hurricane gained fame for its role in defeating the German air force during the Battle of Britain in 1940. Robust and rugged, the Hurricane was a single-seat monoplane launched in 1935. It was an aircraft of technological firsts: it was the first Royal Air Force (RAF) monoplane to feature an enclosed canopy and retractable landing gear. The heavily-armed Hurricane was also fast and became the first RAF aircraft to fly over 485 km/h in level flight. Admired for its ability to operate in a variety of tough environments, the Hurricane was deployed in Europe, Africa, and Asia. Canada played an important role in wartime Hurricane production. More than 1,400 Hurricanes were built in Fort William, Ontario, between 1940 and 1943 under the supervision of Elizabeth “Elsie” MacGill, probably the first female aeronautical engineer in the world. Canadian pilots, fighting in both the RAF and the Royal Canadian Air Force, flew the aircraft in thousands of battle sorties. chief engineer at Canadian Car and Foundry Elizabeth “Elsie” MacGill, CN 6400 Locomotive CN 6400 achieved the peak of its fame in 1939 when it carried King George VI and Queen Elizabeth on the Royal Tour across Canada and then went on display at the “World of Tomorrow,” the New York Queen Elizabeth World’s Fair. Manufactured at the Montreal Locomotive Works for Canadian National Railways (CNR) in 1936, this steam and locomotive featured a semi-streamlined body — designed by National Research Council of Canada engineers — and a state-of-the-art steam engine. CN 6400’s sleek lines also made it a favourite in the CNR’s promotional material where it became the face of modern rail travel. By the late 1940s, though, the age of steam was coming to a close. CN gradually withdrew and scrapped most of its steam locomotives. It spared CN 6400 because of its technical and symbolic importance. King George VI King George aboard the Royal Tour train, May 1939 Tour aboard the Royal Roto Thresh Combine Harvester The Roto Thresh was the first combine harvester to use a spinning drum to separate grain from chaff and straw. Rotary separation is now common in combine harvesters, but in the 1950s, when Manitoba farmers William Streich, Frederick Streich, and Frank McBain built their first prototype, it was an innovative departure. The “sieveless chaffer,” as it was first called, underwent further development through the University of Saskatchewan and in 1968 the Western Roto Thresh Manufacturing Company was launched. The first Roto Thresh combine harvester rolled off the production line in Saskatoon Bill Streich in 1974, offering higher harvesting capacity and reduced grain loss. Only fifty machines were built, however, before production ceased and in 1978. Fred with a prototype of the Roto Thresh combine, ca 1962 with a prototype of the Roto Canadarm The Canadarm first launched into Space aboard Space Shuttle Columbia in 1981. The Shuttle Remote Manipulator System (its official name) measures 15 metres in length and has six rotating joints that give it a range of movement mimicking the human arm. Five Canadarms were used in the Space Shuttle program over its thirty- year span: they captured satellites, unpacked payloads and cargo, and cradled astronauts as they conducted inspections or maintenance. The Canadarm also played a key role in assembling the International Space Station. The Canadarm on display at the Canada Aviation and Space Museum, named RMS 201, was the first in Space and was aboard the Space ShuttleEndeavour during its final mission. Spar Aerospace, the Canadarm’s primary contractor, designed and built the Canadarm in Toronto to exacting criteria for precision movement, manual and automatic operations, safety, reliability, and weight. Although it had never been tested in the harsh environment of Space, the Canadarm worked flawlessly straight out of the box. Canadian General Electric Monitor-Top Refrigerator Electric refrigerators changed the way Canadians stored, prepared, and consumed food. Before electric refrigerators, Canadians used root cellars and ice-boxes to preserve their food. In the 1920s, domestic electric refrigerators, or fridges, came onto the market as electrical distribution networks spread across Canada. Fridges used exposed belt-driven compressors to cool food, and resembled ice-boxes in their design; they were also expensive and noisy. Canadian General Electric, a subsidiary of American manufacturer General Electric (GE), introduced the first refrigerator with a sealed refrigeration unit in 1927. The refrigerator in the Museum’s collection dates from 1930 and features a top-mounted compressor, called a monitor after its resemblance to the turret on the ironclad warship the USS Monitor. The fridge’s all- steel construction and porcelain interior appealed to consumers, but homemakers disliked the monitor compressor. It was hard to clean and prevented use of the refrigerator’s top for storage, which was why manufacturers later replaced monitor-style refrigerators with more streamlined designs. Despite its flaws, this refrigerator marked an important shift in production and consumption: manufacturers such as GE began to produce electrical goods for middle-class consumers, marketing appliances in terms of convenience, cleanliness, and modernity. Canadians, depending on their incomes and location, accepted electrical appliances as labour- saving devices, buying into the notion that the electric kitchen was the mark of a modern home. However, refrigerators did not became standard equipment in Canadian kitchens until after the Second World War. Increasing wages and lower appliance prices made refrigerators more affordable; by 1960, 90 percent of Canadian homes contained one. RIM 950 Wireless Handheld™ Device by BlackBerry® The RIM 950 Wireless Handheld™ device by BlackBerry® accelerated Internet communications when it was introd- uced in 1999. Featuring a unique keyboard layout, it functioned as a pager, email device, and personal organizer. Suddenly, people were furiously thumb-typing, which made a distinctive click-clack sound. Incorporating a wireless modem, the BlackBerry® pager was always “on,” which allowed users to receive messages on the go without having to dial into a server. The device soon became identified with a class of mobile executives and decision-makers dependent on rapid exchanges of email and text messages. The RIM 950 Wireless Handheld™ device, which later incorporated a phone and web browser, established Research In Motion Ltd (now known as BlackBerry®) as a global leader in mobile communications; back in Ontario, it also consolidated Waterloo’s position as a hub for Canadian high-tech research and development. The Last Spike The “last” spike was really the “second-to-last” spike. It took two swings for Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) financier and director Donald A. Smith to drive the final spike in Canada’s transcontinental railway. Smith represented CPR executives at a small ceremony on drove the last spike November 7, 1885, at Craigellachie, British Columbia. On his first attempt, Smith bent the spike. Workers replaced it with another, which Smith drove cleanly home. That spike symbolically completed the 4,800-kilometre railway and fulfilled British Columbia’s condition for entering Confederation. The simple iron spike was one of millions produced in eastern Canadian ironworks and hammered into place by thousands of workers from Canada, Europe, and China. CPR officials later removed the ceremonial last spike from the railbed in Craigellachie and sent it to CPR headquarters in Montreal. Donald Smith pocketed the bent spike as a souvenir and used parts of it to make commemorative pins. When the actual last spike disappeared from the CPR president’s office, Smith’s souvenir suddenly became a national icon. Although the worse for wear, this spike has come to represent the completion of a monumental engineering feat and the formation of Canada as a transcontinental nation. Donald A. Smith to complete the Canadian Pacific Railway on November 7, 1885. The Honourable projector, ® ® Corporation IMAX Projector ® The IMAX® projector changed movie-goers’ expectations of spectacular wide-screen films when it debuted in Japan in 1970. IMAX® used an innovative film-transport mechanism to quickly and smoothly advance a 70-mm large-format film through the projector. This film carried an image ten times the size of the standard 35-mm movie format, making it the largest frame in film history. As a result, the IMAX® projector delivered an image of astonishing breadth and detail. The projector was the product of Canadian filmmakers Graeme Ferguson and Roman Kroitor, producer Robert Kerr, and engineer Bill Shaw.