There are many things about the Irish that are well-known worldwide. Ireland has given the world various thoughts, goods, traditions, culture, and even inventions a tiny nation.
The nation, which has a population of just under 5 million, has a history that has altered the modern world through technology, making it one of the most well-known nations around the globe. These are the world-changing Irish inventions from the 20th century.
Radiotherapy developed by John Joly
To advance the study of radiation’s potential to treat cancer, Joly founded the Dublin Radium Institute in 1914. Joly and Stevenson gathered the radioactive radon gas, or “emanation,” that crude radium emits and injected it directly into their patients’ tumors.
By keeping the gas contained, medical professionals could monitor and regulate the radiation dose given to the patient, avoiding the delivery of excessive doses that would endanger the patient further.
Importantly, this method enabled medical professionals to access numerous inside cancers, greatly enhancing radium treatment. This method of radiation, which came to be known as the “Dublin Method,” was the inspiration for numerous current approaches to treating cancer.
Nickel-zinc battery created by James J. Drumm
An Irish chemist, Dr. James J. Drumm (1897-1974), later invented the battery. He installed it in four sets of Drumm railcars with two cars each between 1932 and 1949 for use on the Dublin-Bray railway line.
Despite being effective, they were discontinued when the batteries ran out. Early nickel-zinc batteries offered only a few discharge/recharge cycles. Nickel-zinc batteries were researched in the 1960s as a silver-zinc battery substitute for military uses and again in the 1970s for use in electric cars.
The Ejector Seat
Ejector seats had been used in the past, but Sir James Martin’s creation made it possible for pilots to exit swiftly moving aircraft. The first live test of Martin’s ejector seat happened in July 1946.
The pilot’s cockpit was destroyed during the test, and he was thrown out of the aircraft by a second explosion, allowing him to parachute safely. Therefore, the RAF approved Martin’s proposal, and within a year, ejector seats were installed in every aircraft in the RAF fleet. By Martin’s passing in 1981, it is estimated that his invention had saved over 5,000 lives.
Flavored Potato Crisps
Irish scientist Joseph “Spud” Murphy intensely disliked plain crisps. The flavor-infused potato crisp first appeared in the 1950s.
In 1954, Murphy, the company’s founder, created cheese and onion-flavored crisps that would become popular domestically and internationally. Sean Lemas referred to “Spud” in the 1960s, when he had amassed a million dollars, as the pinnacle of Irish entrepreneurship. ‘Spud’ Murphy is credited for the fact that manufacturers are still experimenting with flavors, which is a blessing.
The Tank
The first armored tank in history was created in Blackrock, Dublin, in 1911. This is what our Dublin guy produced when Winston Churchill, the country’s then-Home Secretary, ordered the building of a vehicle “capable of defying bullets and shrapnel, crossing trenches, flattening barbed wire, and negotiating the quagmire of no man’s land.
“Without his invention, the World Wars would have been completely different. Although contemporary tanks may not resemble his earlier ideas, the basic “battle buggy” is still the same.
