Inventions Category
999 emergency telephone service
The world’s first free emergency telephone service went into operation in 1937 in London. Other numbers such…
Touchscreens
The Royal Radar Establishment in Worcestershire, set up in 1953, was responsible for many innovations in computer…
George and Robert Stephenson
This father-and-son partnership were the pioneers of the railways. George Stephenson (1781-1848) never went to school but…
Ultrasound scanning
Ian Donald, CBE (1910-87) was born in Cornwall and, although he was always interested in machines and…
James Watt and the steam engine
Devon-born Thomas Newcomen (1664-1729) was among the early inventors of small steam engines and his beam engine,…
The pedal bicycle
James Starley (1830-81) from West Sussex was the pioneer of the modern pedal bicycle, along with his…
Boolean algebra
Boolean algebra, or logic, is named after George Boole (1815-64), a gifted mathematician and philosopher. Born in…
The typewriter
The first patent for a typewriter was granted in 1714 to Henry Mill (1683-1771) from southern England.…
Sir Tim Berners-Lee and the WWW
Sir Timothy John Berners-Lee (1955-) is responsible for helping to usher in the digital age with his…
The ‘best car in the world’
The first car designed and made by Sir Henry Royce (1863-1933) was a 2-cylinder 10HP model in…
The equals sign, =
Robert Recorde (1510-58) was born in Tenby and, astonishingly, died in debtors’ prison, but he had had…
Caxton’s printing press
Kent-born William Caxton (c.1422-91) was the first to bring the printing press to Britain and to publish…