Aussie Inventions #1 Trivia Quiz

Answer: Notepad

Birchall's of Launceston in Tasmania started selling the world's first notepads, calling them 'Silvercity Writing Tablets' after J A Birchall thought it would be a good idea to back sheets of paper with cardboard and glue them together at the top. His British paper suppliers weren't so keen, but, they were persuaded by Birchall that it was a good idea!

Answer: Electric Drill

The Electric Drill was the invention of Arthur James Arnot. On 20 August 1889 he patented his design while working for the Union Electric Company in Melbourne. His original design was meant primarily for drilling rock to find coal!

Answer: True

In 1924, the first car radio was fitted to an Australian car built by Kellys Motors in New South Wales.

Answer: 1953

Designed to survive a crash and document the last moments of a flight by voice and data recording, the 'black box' was invented in 1953, by David Warren, a researcher at the Aeronautical Research Laboratories in Melbourne.

Answer: Grain Harvester

The world's first mechanical grain harvester was one of South Australia's first ever inventions. Designed to speed up reaping of grain, it reduced the number of labourers required to be employed. A severe labour shortage in 1842 had necessitated the then South Australian Governor Grey to apply to England for more migrants!

Answer: Yes

A Sydney Company has invented a new system for diesel engines which employs extremely high injection pressures to atomise diesel which minimises pollution, provides better fuel economy, gives greater power and makes the engine quieter!

The Haltech system can be fitted to most existing engine designs. It could be retrofitted to engines already in use or used in dual fuel conversions or supplied to new production engines within two years. The system is revolutionary in many ways. It does not need a cam, and the rate of entry of fuel into each cylinder and the spray pattern within the cylinder are continually monitored by the engine management system.

The system is ideal for cars for both economic and environmental reasons

Answer: Ute

The farmer's wife wrote to Ford in Geelong, Victoria in 1932, asking for a vehicle that could take the family to church on Sunday and the pigs to market on Monday! The 22 year old Lewis Bandt, a car designer at Ford, adapted the design of a car and came up with a vehicle that had a strong open carrying space behind an enclosed front cab.

Answer: Computer system and hydraulic pumps

A recent invention, The 'Ocean Leveller', designed for sea going ferries, reduces vertical motion by more than 50 per cent using a computer system, motion sensors and hydraulic pumps. Invented and developed by AMECRC and Austal Ships.

Answer: A toilet

An environmentally friendly toilet system, developed in Townsville by Professor Paul Turner (amongst others) was trialled on Fraser Island and converted waste into fluid so low in contaminants that it is able to be safely discharged into the ocean, even onto the Great Barrier Reef!

Answer: Oxford University

At England's Oxford University, Adelaide born Howard Florey developed the drug which was initially reserved for military use only. Civilian use was allowed from 1943 on.

Answer: Wine cask

The wine cask was originally an American idea mooted in the 1950's. However, it was physically designed and invented by Thomas Angrove of the wine making company Angrove's Pty Ltd and was launched in Australia in 1965.

Answer: The surf life-saving reel

Demonstrated at Bondi Beach on 23 December 1906 the world's first life-saving reel was in use less than a week later. One of the first of many lives saved by the use of the reel was a young boy, one Charles Kingsford Smith, who, in later years contributed greatly to world aviation history!

Answer: True

Australians could be throwing much larger 'shrimps' on the Barbie in summers to come, following the CSIRO's breeding of 'super prawns' that grow up to 25% larger! And that's not all; the CSIRO has bred the fastest growing abalone on earth, achieving growth rates up to 50% faster!

Answer: 1979

Race-cam, developed by a Sydney based, Channel Seven television engineer, Geoff Healey, was launched in 1979. The very small, lightweight camera was designed to be used specifically for sports broadcasts to provide never before seen viewpoints of events such as motor racing, which were impossible to cover to such an extent with conventional cameras!

Answer: Sir George Julius

The automatic totalisator for calculating horse-racing bets was invented by Sir George Julius, an adaptation of a vote-counting machine which he had earlier developed. His automatic totalisator was first operated in 1913 in Auckland, New Zealand!