To date, what is Belgium's greatest invention?

Answer 1

Here are a nice assortment. You choose:

The saxophone was developed circa 1840 by Adolphe Sax, a Belgian-born instrument-maker, flautist, and clarinetist working in Paris.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saxophone#History

"John Joseph Merlin (1735-1803), the eccentric Belgian inventor, began his career as a mathematical-instrument maker in Paris. In 1760 he moved to London and founded 'Merlin's Mechanical Museum'; a place of entertainment and a saleroom for his inventions. In the same year, he invented the first roller skates, and then in the late 1700s, a sedan-chair with two wheels, known as the 'Merlin Chair', which became particularly popular in the spa town of Bath."
http://www.scienceandsociety.co.uk/results.asp?image=10400476

"The Belgian Waffle was introduced into North America during the 1964 New York World's Fair by its Belgian inventor, Maurice Vermersch. Observing that most Americans didn't know where Brussels actually was, he decided to change the name from "Brussels Waffle" to the "Belgian Waffle""
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waffle

"Étienne Lenoir
born Jan. 12, 1822, Mussy-la-Ville, Belg.
died Aug. 4, 1900, La Varenne-Saint-Hilaire, Fr.
Belgian inventor who devised the first commercially successful internal-combustion engine."
http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9047762

"With suchc principles in mind, the Belgian inventor Achille Knapen built an air well on a 600-foot high hill at Trans-en-Provence in France. The construction of his "Puits Aerien" took him 18 months to complete (July 1930-December 1931). It still stands today, albeit in dilapidated condition. The unique structure was described in Popular Mechanics Magazine"
http://www.rexresearch.com/airwells/airwells.htm

"In March 1798 a Belgian inventor, physicist, and student of optics named Etienne-Gaspard Robert presented what he called the first Fantasmagorie at the Pavillon de l'Echiquier in Paris"
http://www.acmi.net.au/AIC/PHANTASMAGORIE.html

"The Zap concepts are created by Dirk Laureyssens, Belgian inventor. In total he wrote more than 150 patents. With the Happy Cubes and the variation (the Cricro Puzzles) he is well-known puzzle inventor. He graduated at the University of Antwerp in Social and Political Sciences."
http://www.cricro.com/dice/inventor.html

Zénobe Théophile Gramme (April 4, 1826 - January 20, 1901) was a Belgian electrical engineer..... in 1869, he invented the Gramme machine, a type of direct current dynamo capable of generating much higher voltages than the dynamos known to that point. Later he discovered that the device was reversible and could function as an electrical motor."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Z%C3%A9nobe_Gramme

"Professor Edward J. de Smedt invented modern road asphalt in 1870 at Columbia University in New York City after emigrating from Belgium"
http://www.famousbelgians.net/desmedt.htm

"Lambert Adolphe Quetelet (1796-1874), the Belgian mathematician, is famous world-wide for his 'Body Mass Index' (also called the 'Quetelet Index') which remains the official measurement for obesity to this day. The method is only valid for people over the age of 20. If the result is greater then 30 then a person is officially obese."
http://www.famousbelgians.net/quetelet.htm

Answer 2

Belgian Inventions

Answer 3

Tintin, the Belgian Waffle or Jean Claude Van Damme.

Answer 4

They didn't invent beer but Belgium's process of making beer may be the greatest.

Answer 5

The area of Belgium and Holland known as Flanders was the bithplace of the pre-middle ages weapon known as the Gutentag. It was a pole arm weapon (same class as a spear or pike) used by the local villagers to defend themselves against early French knights.

Answer 6

Waffles

Answer 7

Belgian waffles

Answer 8

Bakelite

Answer 9

Either the saxophone, asphalt, or De Humanis Corporis Fabrica.

Answer 10

Belgians.