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1879
Standard Time Zones
👤 Sir Sandford Fleming
Sir Sandford Fleming, a Scottish-Canadian engineer, proposed the worldwide system of standard time zones in 1879 after missing a train in Ireland due to confusing local time schedules. The system was adopted internationally in 1884.
🌍 Without standard time zones, every city would keep its own local time — coordinating trains, commerce and communication would be nearly impossible.
💡 Before Fleming's system, a journey across North America required adjusting your watch over 100 times.
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1981
The Canadarm
👤 SPAR Aerospace / NRC
The Canadarm is a robotic arm developed by Canada for NASA's Space Shuttle program, first used in 1981. It became so synonymous with Canadian innovation that it was nicknamed "Canada's handshake in space."
🌍 Served on 90 Space Shuttle missions, deployed the Hubble Space Telescope, and led to the Canadarm2 still operating on the International Space Station.
💡 The Canadarm appears on the back of the Canadian $100 bill.
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1913
The Zipper
👤 Gideon Sundback
Gideon Sundback, a Swedish-Canadian engineer working in Ontario, perfected the modern zipper in 1913. His "separable fastener" had interlocking teeth and a slider — the design used to this day.
🌍 The zipper is used in billions of garments, bags and products worldwide — one of the most ubiquitous fastening devices ever invented.
💡 The word "zipper" was coined by B.F. Goodrich in 1923 when they put Sundback's fastener on rubber boots.
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1955
Instant Replay
👤 CBC / George Retzlaff
George Whitmore and CBC Sports producer George Retzlaff developed the first instant replay system for hockey broadcasts in 1955. It was first used nationally during Hockey Night in Canada.
🌍 Instant replay transformed all sports broadcasting and officiating worldwide — now standard in virtually every professional sport.
💡 The first instant replay was met with confusion — viewers thought CBC was showing them a second goal, not the same one again.
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1967
IMAX
👤 Ferguson, Kroitor & Kerr
IMAX was developed by a group of Canadian filmmakers — Graeme Ferguson, Roman Kroitor, and Robert Kerr — and debuted at Expo 67 in Montreal. The format uses film frames 10 times larger than standard 35mm.
🌍 IMAX theatres now operate in 80+ countries and have generated over $4 billion in box office revenue.
💡 The first IMAX camera weighed over 200 kg and required two people to operate.