“Pay attention when I’m talking to you, son.” If you recognize our poor attempt at voice characterization, you’ll know we’re trying to mimic Warner Brothers cartoon character Foghorn Leghorn. And, yes, there’s a reason for that.

Lighthouses were certainly an important aid to ships back in the day. There were no Lorans or Global Positioning Devices in the 1800s, so navigation on the seas required placing a man with a telescope in the crow’s nest. Lighthouses were used to warn sailors of rocky shores, but until 1841, when prisms were used to amplify the signal, the light given off by the traditional wick lamp traveled only a few miles (even in the best weather).

Then there was the problem of fog. In heavy fog, lighthouses were all but invisible, and it was determined that an audible warning system was warranted. In the early days of navigation, a human was stationed on the rocky shore during a fog and manually rang a large bell to warn ships. Robert Foulis, a Scottish immigrant who’d relocated to Canada, came up with the idea of using steam to power a large whistle that would alert ships. His first foghorn was installed at Partridge Island, St. John, Nova Scotia, in 1859. His design included a way to make individual foghorns bleat different combinations of tones, so that a captain could identify which harbor he was near, even when he couldn’t see it in heavy fog.

Sadly, while Foulis had a brilliant technical mind, he had no business savvy. Another man latched onto the design and patented the foghorn, reaping all the benefits. Foulis died penniless.