English inventions and discoveries are objects, processes or techniques invented, innovated or discovered, partially or entirely, inEngland by a person from England. Often, thingsdiscovered for the first time are also called inventions and in many cases, there is no clear line between the two. Nonetheless, science and technology in England continued to develop rapidly in absolute terms. Furthermore, according to a Japanese research firm, over 40% of the world's inventions and discoveries were made in the UK, followed by France with 24% of the world's inventions and discoveries made in France and followed by the US with 20%.[1]
The following is a list of inventions, innovations or discoveries known or generally recognised to be English.
This is adynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help byediting the page to add missing items, with references toreliable sources.
1949:EDSAC – the first complete, fully functional computer inspired by thevon Neumann architecture, the basis of every modern computer – constructed byMaurice Wilkes (1913–2010).
Late 1940s/early 1950s: Theintegrated circuit, commonly called themicrochip, conceptualised and built byGeoffrey Dummer (1909–2002).
1951:LEO made history by running the first business application (payroll system) on an electronic computer forJ. Lyons and Co. Under the advice ofMaurice Wilkes (1913–2010), LEO was designed byJohn Pinkerton (1919–1997) andDavid Caminer (1915–2008).
1951: Concept ofmicroprogramming developed byMaurice Wilkes (1913–2010) from the realisation that thecentral processing unit (CPU) of a computer could be controlled by a miniature, highly specialised computer programme in high-speedROM.
1981: TheOsborne 1 – the first commercially successful portable computer, precursor to thelaptop computer – developed by English-AmericanAdam Osborne (1939–2003).
1990: The world's firstweb server invented by Sir Tim Berners-Lee. Initially calledWWWDaemon, it ran on the NeXTSTEP platform and was publicly released in 1991; later it evolved and was known asCERN httpd.
1991 onwards:Linux kernel development and maintenance were greatly helped by English-bornAndrew Morton (born 1959) andAlan Cox (born 1968).
1327-1356: The first astronomical clock in Europe (before the famous prague astronomical clock, designed and engineered by Jan Sindel, a medieval Czech polymath and priest) came from medieval England, where it was designed and engineered by the medieval English polymath and abbot, Richard of Wallingford, whose contributions to mechanical engineering are very relevant till this very day. Richard of Wallingford also engineered astronomical calculating devices and machinery such as the albion and the rectangulus. The rectangulus was an astronomical instrument made by Richard of Wallingford around 1326. Dissatisfied with the limitations of existing astrolabes, Richard developed the rectangulus as an instrument for spherical trigonometry and to measure the angles between planets and other astronomical bodies.[1][2] The Albion is an astronomical instrument invented by Richard of Wallingford at the beginning of the 14th century.[5] It has various functional uses such as that of the equatorium for planetary and conjunction computations. It can calculate when eclipses will occur. The Albion is made up of 18 different scales which makes it extremely complex in comparison to the equatorium. His expertise in astronomy, mathematics, mechanical engineering, horology while also being a prominent catholic theologian is genuinely incredible and innovative.
Before 1594: TheShoehorn, first referenced in 15th century English texts, possibly invented by Robert Mindum, an English craftsman
Before 1596: Modernflushing toilet invented byJohn Harington (1560–1612).[61] The term 'John', used particularly in the US, is generally accepted as a direct reference to its inventor.[62]
Late-19th century: Commercially produced electrictoaster developed by R. E. B. Crompton (1845–1940).
Late-19th century: Modernpay toilet invented byJohn Nevil Maskelyne (1839–1917); Maskelyne invented a lock for London toilets, which required a penny to operate, hence theeuphemism "spend a penny".
1794:Colour blindness first described in a paper titled "Extraordinary facts relating to the vision of colours" byJohn Dalton (1766–1844).[82]
1798:Smallpox vaccine, the first successful vaccine to be developed, invented byEdward Jenner (1749–1823); in so doing, Jenner is said to have "saved more lives [. . .] than were lost in all the wars of mankind since the beginning of recorded history."[83][84]
1941: Crucial first steps in the mass production ofpenicillin made byNorman Heatley (1911–2004).
1949:Diagnostic ultrasound first used to assess the thickness of bowel tissue by English-born physicistJohn J. Wild (1914–2009), so-called "father of medical ultrasound".[94]
1993:Viagra (a.k.a. Sildenafil – compound UK-92,480) synthesised by a group of pharmaceutical chemists working at Pfizer'sSandwich, Kent research facility in England. The press identified Peter Dunn and Albert Wood as the inventors of the drug; only Andrew Bell, David Brown and Nicholas Terrett are listed on the original composition of matter patent.[100]
1884: TheMaxim gun, the first self-poweredmachine gun invented by SirHiram Maxim (1840–1916); American-born, Maxim moved from the United States to England in 1881, becoming a (naturalised)British subject. The Maxim gun was financed by Albert Vickers ofVickers Limited and produced inHatton Garden,London. It has been called "the weapon most associated with British imperial conquest".[106]
1901:Bullpup firearm configuration first used in theThorneycroft carbine rifle, developed by an English gunsmith as patent No. 14,622 of July 18, 1901.
1916: Thetank developed and first used in combat by the British duringWorld War I as a means to break the deadlock of trench warfare.[107] Key co-inventors include MajorWalter Gordon Wilson (1874–1957) and SirWilliam Tritton (1875–1946).
1943:H2S radar (airborne radar to aid bomb targeting) invented byAlan Blumlein (1903–1942). Blumlein died in a plane crash during a secret trial of the H2S system.
1950: Thesteam catapult, a device used to launch aircraft from aircraft carriers, developed by Commander Colin C. MitchellRNR.
1798: Theharp lute invented byEdward Light (c. 1747-c. 1832); Light patented the instrument in 1816.[114]
Early 19th century: TheIrish flute is not an instrument indigenous to Ireland; a key figure in its development was English inventor and flautistCharles Nicholson (1775–1810).
1880s: Method of intensifyingplates withmercuric iodide devised byB. J. Edwards (1838–1914); Edwards pioneered also the construction and design of instantaneousshutters.
1535: First complete printed translation of theBible into English produced byMyles Coverdale (1488–1569).[120]
1665:Philosophical Transactions, the first journal exclusively devoted to science, established by theRoyal Society of London; it is also the world's longest-running scientific journal.[121]
British Raj period: the first definite map ofIndia drawn by Englishcartographers.
Mid-19th century: First notedjournal club by English surgeonSir James Paget (1814–1899); recalling in his memoirs time spent atSt. Bartholomew's Hospital in London, Paget describes "a kind of club [. . .] a small room over a baker's shop near the Hospital-gate where we could sit and read thejournals."[122]
1600: Recognition that the earth was a giant magnet, byWilliam Gilbert (1544–1603) in his six-book workDe Magnete;De Magnete was known all over Europe, and was almost certainly an influence onGalileo.
1947:Holography invented in Rugby, England by Hungarian-BritishDennis Gabor (1900–1979; fled fromNazi Germany in 1933). The medium was improved byNicholas J. Phillips (1933–2009), who made it possible to record multi-colour reflection holograms.
1665: Correct theory ofcombustion first outlined inMicrographia byRobert Hooke (1635–1703); Hooke observed that something (known now asoxygen) is taken from the air and that in its absence combustion quickly ceases, however much heat is applied.
1766:Hydrogen discovered byHenry Cavendish (1731–1810); Cavendish described it as a colourless, odourless gas that burns and can form an explosive mixture with air.[127]
1901:Silicone discovered and named byFrederic Kipping (1863–1949); according to thenomenclature of modern chemistry,silicone is no longer the correct term, but it remains in common usage.
1913: Concept ofatomic number introduced byHenry Moseley (1887–1915) in order to fix the inadequacies ofMendeleev's periodic table, which had been based on atomic weight.[142]Isaac Asimov wrote, "In view of what he [Moseley] might still have accomplished … his death might well have been the most costly single death of the War to mankind generally."[143]
1665:Cell biology originated byRobert Hooke (1635–1703), who discovered the firstcells in the course of describing the microscopic compartments within cork.[123]
Early 19th century: the first recognition of what fossils were byMary Anning.
1855: The discovery of the firstcoal ball byJoseph Dalton Hooker who later on with partner William Binney made the first scientific description of coal balls.
1958: the first cloning of an animal, a frog using intactnuclei from the somatic cells of a Xenopus tadpole by SirJohn Gurdon.
1950 onward: the pioneering of the use of Xenopus eggs to translate microinjected messenger RNA molecules by SirJohn Gurdon and fellow researchers, a technique which has been widely used to identify the proteins encoded and to study their function.
1960 onwards: Pioneering observation-based research into the behaviour ofchimpanzees (our closest relatives in the animal kingdom) conducted byJane Goodall (born 1934).
2016: Scientists at the Britishbio-tech companyOxitec, in an attempt to stop the spread ofdengue fever genetically engineer a 'sudden death'mosquito which after mating successfully with a wild female, any offspring produced will not survive to adulthood and the lethal gene is passed on from the female to any male they mate with and the cycle continues. 3,019,000 mosquitos were released on theGrand Cayman Islands and after three months 80% of the population of mosquitos in the target area had vanished.
1631: The "x" symbol formultiplication and the abbreviations "sin" and "cos" for thesine andcosine functions devised byWilliam Oughtred (1574–1660) inClavis Mathematicae (The Key to Mathematics).
1631: The symbols for "is less than" and "is greater than", along with other innovations, devised in the posthumously publishedalgebra textArtis Analyticae Praxis byThomas Harriot (c. 1560–1621).
1609: First drawing of theMoon through a telescope byThomas Harriot (c. 1560 – 1621); Harriot achieved this on 26 July 1609: over four months beforeGalileo.[155][156]
1946–1954: Pioneering theories ofNucleosynthesis (the formation of chemical elements in stars and supernova) proposed by SirFred Hoyle (1915–2001); in 1949, Hoyle coined the term "Big Bang".[171]
1892: Scope and method of science proposed inThe Grammar of Science byKarl Pearson (1857–1936); the book was a pivotal influence on the youngAlbert Einstein and contained several ideas that were later to become part of his theories.[180]
1784: TheAtwood machine, for demonstrating the law of uniformly accelerated motion, invented byGeorge Atwood (1745–1807).
c. 1805: First bench micrometer – the "Lord Chancellor", capable of measuring to one ten-thousandth of an inch – invented byHenry Maudslay (1771–1831), a founding father ofmachine tool technology.[182]
W. G. Grace (1848–1915); 1598 saw the earliest definite reference tocricket
Before 1299:Bowls orlawn bowls can be traced to 13th-century England.[183] The world's oldest surviving bowling green isSouthampton Old Bowling Green, first used in 1299.
1519: World's oldest sporting competition still running, theKiplingcotes Derby horse-race, established; it has run annually since without a break.[185][186]
1598: The earliest definite reference tocricket; the sport may arguably be traced further back to 1301 with written evidence of a game known ascreag played byPrince Edward, son ofEdward I (Longshanks).
After 1660:Thoroughbred horseracing developed in 17th- and 18th-century England; royal support fromCharles II, a keen racegoer and owner, made horse-racing popular with the public.
1744: Earliest description ofbaseball inA Little Pretty Pocket-Book by John Newbery (1713–1767); the firstrecorded game of "Bass-Ball" took place in 1749 in Surrey.[189]William Bray (1736–1832) recorded a game of baseball on Easter Monday, 1755 inGuildford,Surrey; the game is considered to have been taken across the Atlantic by English emigrants.[190]
Early 19th century: Modernfield hockey developed in English public schools; the first club was established in 1849 inBlackheath, London.
1820s:Ice hockey, a variant offield hockey, invented by British soldiers based in Canada. British soldiers and emigrants to Canada and the United States played their stick-and-ball games on the winter ice and snow; in 1825,John Franklin (1786–1847) wrote during one of hisArctic expeditions: "The game of hockey played on the ice was the morning sport" onGreat Bear Lake.[191]
1874: Formal codification of the rules of modernPolo established by theHurlingham Polo Association; polo had been introduced to England in 1834 by the 10thHussars atAldershot, Hants, and in 1862 the first polo club,Calcutta Polo Club, was established by two British soldiers, Captain Robert Stewart and (later Major General) Joe Sherer.[195]
1888:Tiddlywinks patent application by London bank clerk[198] Joseph Assheton Fincher (1863–1900);[199][200] Tiddlywinks originated as an adult parlour game inVictorian England.[201]
1896: The dartboard-layout used in the game and professional competitive sport ofDarts was devised byLancashire carpenter Brian Gamlin (c. 1852–1903); Gamlin died before he could patent his idea.[203]
1799: Concept of the modern aeroplane as afixed-wing flying machine with separate systems for lift, propulsion, and control set forth by SirGeorge Cayley (1773–1857);[206][207] Cayley is one of the most important people in the history ofAeronautics and flight: he is sometimes called the "father ofaviation".[208]
1804: Firstglider to carry a human being aloft designed by SirGeorge Cayley (1773–1857). Cayley discovered and identified the four aerodynamic forces of flight:weight,lift,drag, andthrust; Modern aeroplane design is based on those discoveries, along withcambered wings which Cayley also discovered.[208]
1837: Pioneering contribution toparachute design made byRobert Cocking (1776–1837); aged 61, Cocking was the first person to be killed in a parachuting accident.
1802: First full-scale railwaysteam locomotive built byRichard Trevithick (1771–1833).[216] This built on the endeavours of two other Englishmen, engineer Thomas Savery (c.1650–1715), son of Devon, and the first practical steam engine built in 1712 by LondonerThomas Newcomen (c.1664–1729).James Watt did not invent the steam engine. Rather Watt, prompted by English backer and manufacturer Matthew Boulton, effected improvements sufficient to make the invention commercially viable.
1812: First commercially viable steam locomotive, the twin cylinderSalamanca, designed and built byMatthew Murray (1765–1826) ofHolbeck.
1813: First practical steam locomotive to rely simply on the adhesion of iron wheels on iron rails,Puffing Billy, built byWilliam Hedley (1779–1843).
1829:Stephenson'sRocket built byGeorge Stephenson (1781–1848) and his sonRobert Stephenson (1803–1859); theRocket was not the first steam locomotive, but it was the first to bring together several innovations to produce the most advanced locomotive of its day.
1835:Der Adler the first steam locomotive in Germany. Built by George & Robert Stephenson in Newcastle.
1923: TheFlying Scotsman built to a design bySir Nigel Gresley (1876–1941);[217] theFlying Scotsman was in 1934 the first steam locomotive to be authenticated at reaching 100 miles per hour (160.9 km/h) in passenger service.[218]
1863: Opening of the world's oldest underground railway, theLondon Underground, a.k.a. the Tube; the Tube is the oldestrapid transit system, and it was the first underground railway to operateelectric trains.
Late 1940s:Maglev, the use of magnetic levitation to move vehicles without touching the ground, invented byEric Laithwaite (1921–1997).
1876: The legal collection of 70,000 seeds from the rubber-bearing treeHevea brasiliensis which led to the discovery of the perfect growing climate and locations for rubber trees bySir Henry Alexander Wickham. Most commercial rubber plants are descended from the seeds he took toKew Gardens
1884:Thomas Parker claimed to have invented the firstelectric car.[221]
1926: First automated traffic lights in England deployed inPiccadilly Circus in 1926;[223] outside of London,Wolverhampton was in 1927 the first British town to introduce automated traffic lights.[224]
1997: WorldLand Speed Record, 1,228 km/h (763 mph), achieved byThrustSSC, ajet-propelled car designed and built in England. Project director:Richard Noble (born 1946); designed byRon Ayers (born 1932), Glynne Bowsher and Jeremy Bliss; piloted byAndy Green (born 1962).
1578: The firstsubmersible (a small,submarine-like vehicle) of whose construction there exists reliable information designed by EnglishmanWilliam Bourne (c. 1535–1582) in his bookInventions or Devises; DutchmanCornelius Drebbel put Bourne's concept into action in 1620.
1691: Adiving bell capable of allowing its occupier to remain submerged for extended periods of time, and fitted with a window for the purpose of underwater exploration, designed byEdmund Halley (1656–1742),[229] best known for computing the orbit ofHalley's Comet.
c. 1730: Theoctant invented by English mathematicianJohn Hadley (1682–1744); American opticianThomas Godfrey developed the instrument independently at approximately the same time.
1743: The "Whirling Speculum", a device used to locate thehorizon in foggy or misty conditions, invented byJohn Serson (died 1744); Serson's Speculum can be seen as a precursor to thegyroscope.
1785: Thelifeboat invented and patented byLionel Lukin (1742–1834);William Wouldhave (1751–1821) made a rival claim, but he did not succeed with the practical application of his invention until 1789.
1799: TheTransit, a type of sailing vessel with a remarkable turn of speed, patented byRichard Hall Gower (1768–1833).
1843: Launch of theSS Great Britain – the first steam-powered, screw propeller-driven passenger liner with an iron hull; designed byIsambard Kingdom Brunel (1806–1859), it was at the time the largest ship afloat.
1912: World's first patent for an underwater echo ranging device (sonar) filed a month after the sinking of theTitanic byLewis Fry Richardson (1881–1953).
Early 17th century: The closely cut"English" lawn created in theJacobean epoch ofgardening, as the garden and the lawn became places created first as walkways and social areas. The English lawn became a symbol of status of thearistocracy andgentry; it showed that the owner could afford to keep land that was not being used for a building or for food production.
c. 1770–1780: Thelorgnette (a pair ofspectacles with a handle, used to hold them in place) invented byGeorge Adams the elder (c. 1709–1773) and subsequently illustrated in a work by his sonGeorge Adams the younger,An Essay on Vision, briefly explaining the fabric of the eye (1789).[239]
18th century – 19th century: Thehistory of comics developed with innovations byWilliam Hogarth (1697–1764),James Gillray (1756/57–1815),George Cruikshank (1792–1878) and others. The Glasgow Looking Glass (1826), arguably the first comic strip. William Heath was its principal strip illustrator.[242][243]
1821: World's first modernnature reserve established bynaturalist andexplorerCharles Waterton (1782–1965); Waterton was described byDavid Attenborough as "one of the first people anywhere to recognise not only that the natural world was of great importance but that it needed protection as humanity made more and more demands on it".[244]
1824: Rubberballoon invented byMichael Faraday (1791–1867) during experiments with gases.
1844:YMCA (Young Men's Christian Association) founded in London by SirGeorge Williams (1821–1905), with the aim of puttingChristian values into practice.
1846: TheChristmas cracker invented by London confectioner Thomas J. Smith by wrapping a bon-bon in a twist of coloured paper, adding a love note, a paper hat and a banger mechanism. This new idea took off and the bon-bon was eventually replaced by a small toy or novelty.
1849:Bowler hat designed by London hat-makers Thomas and William Bowler.
1866: The introduction, planting, cultivation and manufacturing ofCeylon tea in the British Crown colony of Ceylon, nowSri Lanka.Sir Arthur Conan Doyle said of the planting efforts "the tea fields of Ceylon were as true a monument to courage as the lions of Waterloo" and called it "one of the greatest commercial victories which pluck and ingenuity ever won."[247]
1868: Erection of first mounted dinosaur skeleton, Hadrosaurus Foulkii and introduction of the universal standard for all future dinosaur displays by English artistBenjamin Waterhouse Hawkins in concert with Dr Joseph Leidy and Edward Drinker Cope. Displayed atThe Academy of Natural Sciences
1870s: One precursor (among others) of the moderngas mask constructed by physicistJohn Tyndall (1820–1893).
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