Innovation is a Way of Living - RTS Canada

Salute to Change

Innovation is a Way of LivingGROUPE LECLAIRE GROUP GLG INC. PROUDLY PRESENTS THIS

RECOGNITION OF CANADIAN SOCIAL AND SCIENTIFIC CREATIVITY.Throughout the age of change, Canadian innovators have left

their unique mark. This booklet is dedicated to some of those individualswho changed the way we go about our daily tasks.

In addition to those featured in the following pages, there aremany, many more people and events we have long forgotten; a few ofthose that we remember who deserve mention include some of ourearliest innovators:1791– Angus MacDonnel patents process to make potash1838 – Charles Fenerty produces paper from wood pulp1857 - Victoria Bridge, the first iron plate bridge, opens1858 – Frederick Gisbourne oversees the underwater trans-Atlantic cable1862 – Thomas Hunt makes green ink for the US greenback dollar1868 - John Forbes designs the ice skate1874 – Henry Woodward invents the light bulb1875 - Henry Woodward sells his bright idea to Thomas Edison1884 - Sandford Fleming devises international Standard Time1891 – James Naismith introduces the sport of basketball1892 - Thomas Carbide Willson produces an acetylene torch1898 – YMCA in Toronto sets up the first child daycare program1907 – John McLaughlin bottles Canada Dry ginger ale1910 – Arthur Ganong packages the chocolate bar1913 - Gideon Sundback fashions a zipper1924 – William Stephenson sends wirephotos to Europe1927 – Alan Brown gives the world Pablum1928 – Morse Robb plays his new electric organ1929 - Archibald Huntsman packages frozen food, Ice Fillets1936 - Norman Bethune creates the first battlefield mobile blood transfusion1940 - Norman Breakley unveils the paint roller1950 - Jack Hopps patents a heart pacemaker

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Mary Ann Shadd

Liberty and LiteracyTHE UNDERGROUND

RAILWAY BROUGHT THE SHADD

family to southern Ontariowhere, in 1853, Mary AnnShadd edited and publishedthe Provincial Freeman, anewspaper dedicated toending American slavery,encouraging literacy andpromoting civil rights.

In 1858, Shaddorganized a convention withJohn Brown to prepare hisunsuccessful slave rebellion.Up to the time of the US CivilWar, the Provincial Freeman wasthe longest published anti-slavery newspaper. Inaddition, Shadd taught publicschool.

Shadd returned to the USin 1861 and recruited blacksoldiers for the Union army.She became a lawyer in 1883,helped found the Suffragistmovement and was the firstblack woman to cast a vote in aUS national election.

Abraham Gesner

Abraham Gesner

Avant GreenpeaceDR. ABRAHAM GESNER

SET UP HIS MEDICAL PRACTICE

near his birthplace is Parrsboro,Nova Scotia. In his sparemoments, he would return to hisgreater interest, geology,collecting rocks and fossilsalong the Bay of Fundy.

After conducting ageological survey of NewBrunswick and Prince EdwardIsland for the colonialgovernment, Dr. Gesnerdiscovered alberite in 1839, acoal like hydrocarbon thatintrigued him for its potential.His experiments wouldcontinue for the next five years.

In 1846, he patentedkerosene and, financed by JohnD. Rockefeller, manufactured itin the US. It replaced whale oilin American homes and, in themid 1850s, marked the declineof the whaling fleet – 735 shipsin 1846 to 39 in 1876.

Publishing

All the News that Fits

WHEN THE AMERICANS

CAPTURED MONTREAL IN 1775,Congress allocated $200 forFleury Mesplet to relocate hisprinting equipment fromPhiladelphia and together withBenjamin Franklin, publish aweekly French-languagenewspaper called La Gazette.

Ten years later, he wouldtranslate news to create abilingual paper with news and afew decorative graphics. Of theenterprises born in the 18th

century, the only other Canadianbusiness still in operation is theMolson Brewery.

Photo Engraving

IN 1869, GEORGE DESBARATS

a lead engraver introduced hisinnovative half-tone photoengraving in the CanadianIllustrated News bringing vividreproductions of people, placesand events across Canada andacross the world. It changed howthe news was seen and, as aresult, the way it was reported.

Engravings from theCanadian IlustratedNews

P. L. Robertson

The Canadian ScrewTHE ASSEMBLY LINE IS NO

PLACE FOR A SLIP OF A

screwdriver. And whentravelling salesman PeterRobertson cut his handshowing off a spring loadedscrewdriver, he knew he neededeither a new tool or a new job.He set his mind on the former.

By 1906, Robertsonapplied for a patent that hecalled the biggest little inventionof the century. His square-headrecessed screws were self-centering and could be drivenwith one hand. When FisherBodies ordered them for theModel-T Ford cars, he knew hehad set a new standard.

Robertson received a$10,000 loan in 1908 fromMilton, Ontario to locate hisfactory there. Robertson not onlypaid back the loan but today isthe largest year-round employerin the Milton region and hechanged the way hundreds ofthousands do their jobs.

University Labs

Beyond Blackboards

nuclear physics, arrived inMontreal. At McGill Universitywith a lab donated byMacdonald tobacco andstudents he would keepanonymous, he won a Nobelprize for developing radium,thorium and by consequenceradioactivity.

Electron Microscope

IN A RACE WITH NAZI

scientists to create scientificinstruments that could haveapplications for World War II,University Professor E. F.Burton built the first electronmicroscope in 1938, a devicethat would also have extensivemedical applications.

Diabetes Research

INSULIN WAS ISOLATED BY

Frederick Banting and GeorgeBest in 1921 while working inthe lab at the University ofWestern Ontario. Further workin Toronto led to a majorbreakthrough in medicine andthe first treatment for diabetes.

AT THE AGE OF 27, ERNEST

RUTHERFORD, THE “FATHER” OF

Ernest Rutherford

Best and Banting

Elijah McCoy

Making Real McCoy

NOTED AFRICAN

AMERICAN INVENTOR ELIJAH

McCoy was issued 57 patents,mostly serving the field ofmechanical engineering. Themost notable was in 1872 forlubricating oil that allowedtrains to operate withoutstopping to cool. It would beknown in the industry as “thereal McCoy”.

Born in Colchester,Ontario to former slaves, hetraveled to Scotland at age 15 tolearn mechanical engineering,allowing him to pursue workwhen he returned. But the onlyjobs available were on therailroad, where he became afireman and oiler in Michigan.

Because of his training,McCoy was able to identify andsolve engine lubrication andoverheating problems on thetrains. His lubrication deviceused steam pressure to pump oilwhen it was needed, allowingthe trains to reach theirdestination on time.

Transportation Inventions

Selling a SolutionHydrofoil Boats

WHEN THE AMERICAN

DEPARTMENT OF WAR CALLED

for submarine chasers, in 1908,telephone inventor AlexanderGraham Bell proposed that theUS build hydrofoils as theycould skim across mine-infestedbays the same way a skitterbugmoves across a pond.

Streetcar

IN 1883, THE TORONTO

Industrial Exhibition askedJohn Joseph Wright, a localelectrical engineer to work withan American contractor tomotorize a Grand Trunk flatcar.Given no credit for the device,Wright went on to win praisefor building the first electricrailway.

Flight Suit

WILBUR ROUNDING FRANKS

invented the Flying Suit in 1941.The device was widely used inresearch in aerospace medicineand in Canadian aviation. Aspart of the WWII effort, theRCAF used the flying suit toprevent blackouts amongcombat pilots.Toronto

Montreal

Mabel Hubbard Bell

Pilot and Educator

MABEL HUBBARD BELL

BECAME CANADA’S FIRST WOMAN

pilot in 1909 when she tested theSilver Dart in Baddeck Bay, NovaScotia. Before that, she was activehelping women becomeuniversity faculty members inBoston and was a founder of theHome and School Association ofCanada.

Instrumental in startingthe first Montessori school inCanada (1912), Mabel Bell lateropened a school in Washington,D.C., founded the MontessoriEducation Association andbecame its president and starteda magazine Freedom for the Child.

Her husband, AlexanderGraham Bell, claimed heinvented the telephone as an aidfor the hearing impaired so thatMabel, who was deaf, wouldbenefit. Unfortunately, Bell waswrong and, despite itspopularity, she was never able tohear using his apparatus.

Mabel Bell and the Silver Dart

Baddeck Bay, N.S. MariaMontessori

Land Claims

A New Kind ofTreaty

THE GOVERNMENTS OF

QUEBEC AND CANADA AND THE

Crees of James Bay signed in1975 a treaty dealing with landissues dating back to the 1800s.It was the first modern daytreaty and, for the first time,provided a mechanism to settleoutstanding issues in anequitable manner.

The area is now home to15,000 Crees and the James Bayhydro-electric project, one of thelargest in the world. The landwas transferred in 1898 byOttawa to Quebec jurisdictionon condition that Quebecrecognizes the rights of theNative residents.

In 1971, Quebecannounced its intention tobuild the project but wasordered by the courts to respectaboriginal claims and settleoutstanding issues. The Creesreceived a cash settlement,royalties and an agreement tosettle ongoing issues, withoutsurrendering their treaty rights.

Scenes from the Treaty No.9 talks(1905-1906)

Snowblower

FROM SHOVELLING TO

SKIING, EVERY YEAR, SNOW

presents Canadians with achallenge. In 1927, Arthur Sicardpresented Outremont, Quebecwith a way to clear their streetsquickly and reliably. Hisinvention, the Snowblower, wasa vehicle that clears and throwssnow over 90 feet away.

Snow Plough

RAILROADS NEED TO REMOVE

snow. J.W. Elliot made a spinningdevice mounted on the front of theengine to throw snow away fromthe rails. Canadian railroadsturned it down but anotherOntario inventor, Orange Julltook up the cause and convincedUS railroads make it standardequipment.

Snowmobile

TO TOWNSHIPPER JOSEPH-Armand Bombardier, snow wasan opportunity. His mechanicalinventions ranged from all-terrain to mechanized over-snowvehicles. Starting in 1942 in hisshop in Valcourt, Quebec, heproduced automotive devices hewould market under the Ski-Doobrand.

Snow

A Canadian Approach

J. A. Bombardier

John Peters Humphrey

Human Rights for All

JOHN PETERS HUMPHREY

WROTE THE FIRST DRAFT OF THE MOST

important internationalagreement on human rights.

Called the UniversalDeclaration of Human Rights, itwas passed unanimously bythe United Nations’ GeneralAssembly on December 10,1948, a day now recognizedworldwide as Human RightsDay.

John Humphrey wasborn in Hampton, NewBrunswick. His left armamputated as a child, he earnedfour degrees and became Deanof Law at McGill Universityand was Director of HumanRights at the UN until 1946. Hehelped establish AmnestyInternational Canada and theCanadian Human RightsFoundation.

Eleanor Roosevelt

Electronic Devices

New Ways of TalkingAT AGE 15, FREDERICK

G. CREED WAS A MORSE CODE

operator in Mill Village, NovaScotia. Two years later, in Peru,he developed a teleprinter, adevice that could change thoseelectrical signals into theprinted word. In 1902, theBritish Post Office signed onand installed its first electronicprinter.

Television

A TELEVISION SYSTEM WAS

patented by ReginaldFessenden in 1927. In 1934,another Canadian, F. C. P.Henroteau invented thetelevision camera, allowingmotion photography to be seenon a remote receiver.

Walkie-Talkie

IN 1942, DONALD L. HINGS

invented the two-way portabletransmitter-receiver, the walkie-talkie.

Telephone

THE MOST SUCCESSFUL

inventor-entrepreneur of 2-waycommunications was AlexanderGraham Bell. His telephone, adevice he claimed would helpthose with hearing impairments,was financial magic. Afterarriving in Canada in 1874, hebegan experiments and patentedthe device in 1876.

Bell at work

AS AN INVENTOR ,

FESSENDEN IS CREDITED WITH

Reginald A. Fessenden

Inventor of Radio

over 250 patents, his mostimportant was radio but theCanadian and Britishgovernment support for theMarconi system left himvirtually unknown. Born in theEastern Townships of Quebec,he worked in the US and inBermuda.

He is credited withinventing a myriad of devicesincluding metal teabags,microfiche, tracer bullets, depthsounding (sonar), paging, turboelectric drives for ships, radarand complex measuring tools,and as an author of books onancient civilizations.

Fessenden was also theChief Engineer for the TorontoPower House at the foot ofNiagara Falls.

Reginald Fessenden and his crew (1906)

Brant Rock, Mass. (1906) Fessenden and Thiessen (ca. 1905)