Sounding the alarm for sea-faring sailors since 1859

What’s an obscure Canadian invention with a fascinating story, and a niche group of people who are thrilled to have it immortalized in video? It’s the foghorn! Unfortunately, not many people know that it was a Canadian invention.

For Canadian Innovation Week 2020, myself and the team at Historica Canada selected this little-known story for a one minute animated short that celebrates ingenious innovations.

I conducted extensive research on all types of steam-operated fog alarms to develop the script and provide fact-checking expertise – including the all-important question: did Robert Foulis use a pencil or charcoal for his initial sketches? We settled on charcoal.

Viewers from all over the world, and the mariner community in particular, were thrilled to share this eccentric piece of Canadian history with their network.