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Source: Pixabay

Top 10 Finnish Inventions

You may know about Finnish mobile phones, Linus Torvalds’s operating system and sauna, but there are many other inventions that Finnish people have come up with in the industrialised era. 

Let's take a look at some of them! 

 Source: Pixabay

1. Bad tempered birds

Continuing with the tech topic, a mobile phone game featuring bad tempered flying animals took over the world with a storm. The story behind that is still being repeated in classes and business gatherings, is that the company made games and failed with them for 51 times, until number 52, the birdgame hit the jackpot. 

They said the game's fans included Justin Bieber, Salman Rushdie and David Cameron among others. The original game came out 10 years ago in 2012, and it is still followed by fans and has merchandise being sold. 

 Source: Pixabay

2. Ice Skates

On the topic of winter activities [How to Dress Up for Winter? ] t is said some of the earliest skates made of animal bones have been found in southern Finland dating back to around 3,000 BCE. So that would indicate that Finns have been using ice skates for 5,000 years. 

 Source: Pixabay

3. Reflectors

My favourite collectable item is reflectors! And they are not just a thing for bicycles! 

I am decorating my jackets, handbags, backpacks with reflectors! I even have reflective textile stickers on my bike! Reflectors were invented by Arvi Lehti in 1955 and are now used on key rings, armbands, adhesive strips and even on dog collars. 

There are several companies in Finland that make shopping bags, and clothes, winter jackets, backpacks and kids clothes out of reflective materials. So in fact, reflective wear is a thing and reflectives can save your life! Please note, pedestrians are required by law to wear reflectors when travelling in dark conditions in Finland.

 Source: Pixabay

4. Orange scissors

Yes, Finland stands behind those orange, high quality scissors that are imitated widely. In fact, in every single country I have travelled and where I have seen scissors in a shop, they have had an orange version of it as well, imitating the Finnish flagship scissors from 1967. 

Funnily enough, the orange plastic handles were not originally orange. The Company produced handles in several other colours, like black, green, and red, but it turns out, leftover plastic in the machine from an orange-coloured juicer needed to be used up. In the end the manufacturing workers voted on the colour and orange won. 

5. Heart rate monitors

Your own personal heart rate monitor was invented by Seppo Saynajakangas in 1977, the founder of a tech company in a small town in Kempele, just next to Oulu. Nowadays the company sells wearable health technology all over the globe and I am sure you have also come across some of their products. 

6. Dish draining rack 

Dish draining racks are nowadays found even in my Italian home! Invented by a Finnish inventor Maiju Gebhard in the 1940’s and spread around the world with the help of a large Swedish furniture store, drying racks not only save time and space in your kitchen but make your kitchen modern and functional, like it should be! 

The Finnish Invention Foundation has named drying racks one of the most important Finnish inventions of the 20th century.

7. The Internet Browser

Yes, Finnish people love technology! The first graphical internet browser was a Master's thesis project for 4 students of Helsinki University in 1992. The founder of the World Wide Web Tim Berners-Lee visited Finland and encouraged the students to continue on the project, but they did not have proper funding. 

Although the browser was not a success it showed the way for the browsers we use even today. 

8. Xylitol

You may now have heard of xylitol, but surely you have encountered or ingested it in some form. 

Xylitol is primarily made from birch tree branches found in Finland. It is an alternative to sugar used to prevent cavities, plaque, pneumonia, osteoporosis, and ear infections in children. It is found in many popular brands of chewing gum, candies, and butter substitutes.

 Source: Pixabay

9. SMS

Going back to tech, Finnish had their hands in texting too. Matti Makkonen, who was working for two Finnish mobile technology companies, pitched a concept of text messaging over cellular networks in 1984 and helped to initialise the technology in early 1990s. 

Finnish mobile phone company became the first cell phone manufacturer that offered phones that had the SMS capability, in 1993. 

Again, in 1994, in Finland a mobile network service company became the first network to offer a commercial person-to-person SMS text messaging service in 1994. When another Finnish mobile network company also launched SMS text messaging in 1995 and the two networks allowed SMS to be sent to the competitive network user, Finland became the first nation where SMS text messaging was offered to everyone. 

10. Maternity package

In recent years the Finnish maternity package has been in the news. 

The Finnish maternity package is not commercially available. It is available solely as a benefit offered under the Finnish social security system. You send in a claim approximately 2 months before the baby’s due date. The containing items are sourced through a competitive bidding process complying with the EU law. The value of the package is 170 € and 95% families pick the package, instead of choosing the monetary value, which is also available. 

The box includes the box itself, that can be used as a baby bed during the first months after the baby’s birth, and mattress, outerwear and quilts, bodysuits, trousers, caps, socks and mittens, blankets, bed linen, towel, baby care items, and hygiene products. 

Other inventions

Now that is not nearly all of the inventions Finnish have come up with! There is the space solar sail from 2008, wind turbine from 1922, child day care since 1982 and the definitely the most questionable of inventions, a bomb with the name of an alcoholic beverage. 

There is also the IRC, Internet Relay Chat and the pulk or pulka (pulkka in Finnish), that has also the larger version used as a rescue toboggan. Yes, we came up with the rescue toboggan. 

And surely you have heard about the national state-owned gaming company that has exclusive right to operate all gaming and gambling in Finland, and the responsibility for mitigating gambling risks? It employs 2,000 people and raises €1bn a year for health, social welfare, cultural, youth and scientific projects, distributed by the relevant ministries.