Skip to main content

You are leaving IngeniumCanada.org

This link leads to an external website that Ingenium does not control. Please read the third-party’s privacy policies before entering personal information or conducting a transaction on their site.

Have questions? Review our Privacy Statement

Vous quittez IngeniumCanada.org

Ce lien mène à un site Web externe qu'Ingenium ne contrôle pas. Veuillez lire les politiques de confidentialité des tiers avant de partager des renseignements personnels ou d'effectuer une transaction sur leur site.

Questions? Consultez notre Énoncé de confidentialité

Langue

Français

Search

Menu des liens rapides

Ingenium Locations
Shop
Donate
Join

Menu

Main Navigation

Browse
About
- About The Channel
- Content Partners

Explore

Browse

Article

Read original articles as well as short summaries with links to our favourite online sources.

Filters

Clear All

Categories

Publication

Reading Duration

Short (5)
Medium (4)
Long (1)

81 Results:

Sort by

The Beatty model A was Canada’s first electric washing machine with an agitator. Source: Ingenium 1968.0399

Household Technology

Beatty Washer

Ingenium – Canada's Museums of Science and Innovation

The Beatty electric washing machine ushered in a new era of domestic appliances.The Beatty electric washing machine ushered in a new era of domestic appliances. In the 1920s Beatty Brothers electric washing machines became the choice of households across Canada, heralding an era of electrical domestic appliances. Featuring an agitator that beat clothing, this Beatty washer represents the company’s innovative approach to manufacturing. Brothers George and Matthew Beatty founded the company in

half-tone images of photographs

Illustrated News – Half-tone Photographic Printing

Janis Nostbakken

October 30, 1869 was an eventful day in the history of publishing. The roots of photojournalism can be traced back to that date when the Canadian Illustrated News made its debut. The picture on the front page of the News was the focus of attention. The photo in itself was nothing special, but the process that put it there was extraordinary. Publisher Georges-Édouard Desbarats and his printer, William Leggo, had worked together to achieve what many others had tried but failed to do. They came up

1838 Canada Stamp

Household Technology

The World’s First Paper from Wood – Charles Fenerty

Janis Nostbakken

The story goes that sometime in the 1830s, when he was a teenager in Sackville, Nova Scotia, Charles Fenerty took a walk in the woods that would make him famous. He happened to notice some wasps chewing on wood fiber and watched as they produced a fine paper-like substance that they then used to build a nest. It was a “Eureka!” moment for Fenerty who headed for home to follow their lead. He began grinding wood into pulp to make paper. Until this time, most paper had been made from rags. But as

The Jolly Jumper

Household Technology

The Jolly Jumper

Janis Nostbakken

Patent number 568775 was issued in 1959 for a “baby supporter and exerciser” better known as the Jolly Jumper. The device was the brainchild of Susan Olivia Poole who drew upon her Ojibway roots for the design. As she was growing up, she often saw babies carried on cradle boards. When a mother was working outdoors, she could hang the board from a nearby tree branch and give it an occasional tug to begin a gentle, comforting motion. In 1910, as soon as the first of her own seven children was born

The World’s First Electric Meal

Janis Nostbakken

Dubbed the “Edison of Canada,” Thomas Ahearn was the astute businessman and prolific inventor who literally electrified Ottawa. In 1882, Ahearn and his partner, Warren Soper, lit up the city’s streets with arc lamps; in 1891, they replaced horse-drawn trams with electric street cars; and to celebrate Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee in 1897 their company illuminated the Parliament Buildings with thousands of lights. To promote the wonders of electricity, not to mention his own business, Ahearn

Frank Morse Robb

Household Technology

Morse Music – The World’s First Electronic Wave Organ

Janis Nostbakken

In November 1927, Morse Robb was heralded in newspaper stories as a genius for his invention of the world’s first electronic wave organ. At the age of 24, Robb had found a way to reproduce the magnificent tones of a cathedral pipe organ in an instrument that was small enough to fit in a family home. Instead of pipes, his innovation featured 12 shafts, one for each note of the chromatic scale. Sets of “tone discs” corresponding to organ stops were mounted on each shaft. The discs rotated to

Frank Morse Robb

Frank Morse Robb 1902–1992

Janis Nostbakken

Like many inventors, Morse Robb began his career in science at an early age. Born in Belleville, Ontario he was a studious and creative boy constantly coming up with gadgets that often backfired: his Christmas tree light flasher gave his father a shock; he ruined a good pair of pants in an attempt to make ether; and he created a highly sensitive chemical compound that exploded with the touch of a feather. But his puttering eventually paid off. By the time he was 11, Robb invented several

Household Technology

Cleaning Up with Bissell

Janis Nostbakken

One day Nova Scotia-born Anna Bissell asked her husband Melville to find an easier way to clean the floors of their Michigan crockery shop. The result? The world’s best-known carpet sweeper. Patented in 1876, the Bissell was soon cleaning up across the country and ultimately around the world. Even Queen Victoria once commanded that Buckingham Palace carpets be “bisselled.” When Melville died in 1889, Anna became America’s first female corporate CEO and ran the multi-million dollar Bissell

Elizabeth Arden

Household Technology

Inventor of the American Beauty Industry

Janis Nostbakken

Elizabeth Arden is credited with introducing North American women to eye make-up, a concept almost unheard of in the early 1900s. She is also renowned for making the wearing of cosmetics respectable at a time when only stage performers and women of “ill-repute” indulged. Arden invented a number of skin products, including foundation to match skin tones, and a softening cream originally developed for her famous race horses. Some fashion historians contend that the American beauty industry itself

Household Technology

Paint Brush on Wheels

Janis Nostbakken

HOW TO PAINT A CEILING PRE-1940 Take a paint brush in your right hand, or your left hand if you are left-handed, or both hands if it is a big brush. Dip the brush into a can of paint and raise it above your head, being careful not to let the paint roll down your arm. Dab it on the ceiling, repeat the process hundreds of times. Then—take a bath. Before the advent of the paint roller in 1940, decorating a room – especially the ceiling – took a lot of time, paint and patience. And it was messy

Page

Page 1
Page 2
Page 3
Page 4
Page 5
Page 6
Current page 7
Page 8
Page 9

Footer

About The Channel

Contact Us

Ingenium
P.O. Box 9724, Station T
Ottawa ON K1G 5A3
Canada

contact@IngeniumCanada.org

Facebook
Instagram
Twitter

Channel
Visit
Ingenium
For Media
- Newsroom
- Awards

Connect with us

Subscribe to our newsletter to receive the latest Ingenium news straight to your inbox!

Legal Bits

Privacy Statement

© 2025 Ingenium

Browse
About
- About The Channel
- Content Partners