People You Didn't Know Are Polish: The Man Who Invented Mine Detectors

Mine detectors are used every single day all over the world.  They are used to clear paths for soldiers in combat zones.  Mine detectors are also used in places such as Lebanon and Sri Lanka to clear lands which had previously been mined during wars and which now are intended for safe use by locals again.



But who invented the Mine Detector?  Józef Kosacki.

Kosacki was a Polish WWII soldier who finished his design of the first ever mine detector in 1941.



I must point out something about Kosacki and his invention: 

Kosacki did not patent the first ever mine detector.  He gifted it to the British Army for the war effort against Germany.

Kosacki's invention has revolutionized war and postwar efforts to save lives in a massive way.  I hope the next time you see on television or in a movie, or read in a book or a news article, about someone clearing an area of mines, that you remember the Polish contribution.




Related Link: Time Magazine article "History of Mine Detectors"


And remember that Ted Turner (of Time Warner) and Polish jokes about Polish mine detectors being a foot are uninformed and inappropriate. 

Na razie...

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