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Agriculture Seed drill - Jethro Tull.
Astronomy
Discovery of the planet Uranusand the moons Titania, Oberon, Enceladus, Mimas by Sir William Herschel
Chemistry
Marsh test for Arsenic - James Marsh
Dalton's law and Law of multiple proportions - John Dalton
Discovery of Buckminsterfullerene - Sir Harry Kroto
First isolation of Sodium - Humphry Davy
Communications
Uniform Penny Post - Rowland Hill et al.
Clockwork radio - Trevor Baylis
Computing
Analytical engine - Sir Charles Babbage
ACE and Pilot ACE - Alan Turing
Bombe - Alan Turing
Colossus computer - Tommy Flowers
Difference engine - Sir Charles Babbage
World Wide Web - Sir Tim Berners-Lee
ZX Spectrum - Sir Clive Sinclair
Clock making
Anchor escapement - Robert Hooke
Grasshopper escapement, Gridiron pendulum, H1, H2, H3 and H4 watches (a watch built to solve the longitude measurement problem) - John Harrison
Clothing manufacturing
Richard Arkwright – inventor of the first industrial spinning machine
Derby Rib (stocking manufacture) - Jedediah Strutt
Flying shuttle - John Kay
Mauveine, the first synthetic organic dye - William Henry Perkin
Power loom - Edmund Cartwright
Spinning frame - John Kay
Spinning jenny - James Hargreaves
Spinning mule - Samuel Crompton
Polyester - John Rex Whinfield
Cryptography
Playfair cipher - Charles Wheatstone
Engineering Famous English engineers include Isambard Kingdom Brunel, (pictured left) best known for the creation of the Great Western Railway, a series of famous steamships, and numerous important bridges, hence revolutionising public transport and modern-day engineering.
Adjustable spanner - Edwin Beard Budding
Cavity Magnetron - Dr Harry Boot
First coke-consuming blast furnace - Abraham Darby I
First working universal joint - Robert Hooke
First Compression-Ignition engine aka Diesel Engine - Herbert_Akroyd_Stuart
Steam Engine - Thomas Savery
Newcomen steam engine - Thomas Newcomen
Modified version of the Newcomen steam engine (Pickard engine) - James Pickard
Pendulum Governor - Frederick Lanchester
The first screw-cutting lathe - Henry Maudslay
Disc Brakes - Frederick Williams
Internal combustion engine - Samuel Brown
Jet Engine - Sir Frank Whittle
Food
Bird's Custard - Alfred Bird
Sandwich - John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich
Household appliances
Ballbarrow - James Dyson
Collapsible baby buggy - Owen Maclaren
Dyson DC01 - James Dyson
Fire extinguisher - George William Manby
Lawn mower - Edwin Beard Budding
Rubber band - Stephen Perry
Light Bulb - Joseph Wilson Swan
Tin Can - Peter Durand
Corkscrew - Reverend Samuell Henshall
Mouse trap - James Henry Atkinson
Sewing machine - Thomas Saint
Postage Stamp - Rowland Hill
Toilet Paper - British Perforated Paper Company
Vacuum cleaner - Hubert Cecil Booth
Industrial processes
English crucible steel - Benjamin Huntsman
Steel production Bessemer process - Henry Bessemer
Hydraulic press - Joseph Bramah
Parkesine, the first man-made plastic - Alexander Parkes
Portland cement - Joseph Aspdin
Sheffield plate - Thomas Boulsover
Water frame - Richard Arkwright
Stainless Steel - Harry Brearley
Rubber Masticator - Thomas Hancock
Medical
First correct description of circulation of the blood - William Harvey
Smallpox vaccine - Edward Jenner
Antisepsis in surgery - Joseph Lister
Artificial intraocular lens transplant surgery for cataract patients - Harold Ridley
Clinical thermometer - Thomas Clifford Allbutt.
Colour blindness first described by John Dalton in Extraordinary facts relating to the vision of colours
Computed Tomography - Godfrey Newbold Hounsfield
Viagra - Peter Dunn, Albert Wood, Dr Nicholas Terrett
EKG (underlying principles) - various
Military
Congreve rocket - William Congreve
High explosive squash head - Sir Charles Dennistoun Burney
Puckle Gun - James Puckle
Shrapnel shell - Henry Shrapnel
Dreadnought Battleship
Bailey Bridge - Donald Bailey
Mining
Davy lamp - Humphry Davy
Geordie lamp - George Stephenson
Musical instruments
Concertina - Charles Wheatstone
Photography
Ambrotype - Frederick Scott Archer
Calotype - William Fox Talbot
Collodion process - Frederick Scott Archer
Stereoscope - Charles Wheatstone
Science Sir Isaac Newton Newtonian telescope - Sir Isaac Newton
Compound microscope with 30x magnification - Robert Hooke
Universal Joint - Robert Hooke
The Iris diaphragm - Robert Hooke
Anchor escapement and the balance spring, which made more accurate clocks possible - Robert Hooke
Correct theory of combustion - Robert Hooke
Barometer, anemometer, and hygrometer (invented or improved) - Robert Hooke
Hooke's Law (equation describing elasticity) - Robert Hooke
Electrical generator (dynamo) - Michael Faraday
Galvanometer - William Sturgeon
Infrared radiation - discovery commonly attributed to William Herschel.
Micrometer - Sir William Gascoigne
the first bench micrometer that was capable of measuring to one ten thousandth of an inch - Henry Maudslay
Sinclair Executive, the world's first small electronic pocket calculator - Sir Clive Sinclair
Slide rule - William Oughtred
Synthesis of coumarin, one of the first synthetic perfumes, and cinnamic acid via the Perkin reaction- William Henry Perkin
The Law of Gravity - Sir Isaac Newton
Newton's laws of motion - Sir Isaac Newton
DNA fingerprinting - Sir Alec Jeffreys
Smallpox Vaccination - Edward Jenner
Electromagnet - William Sturgeon
Dew Point Hygrometer - John Frederic Daniell
Periodic Table - John Alexander Newlands
Seismograph - John Milne
Theory of Evolution - Charles Darwin
Orbital Theory of the Atom - Ernest Rutherford
Transport
Famous English engineers include Isambard Kingdom Brunel, best known for the creation of the Great Western Railway, a series of famous steamships, and numerous important bridges, hence revolutionising public transport and modern-day engineering.
Railways
Locomotives
First working railway steam locomotive - Richard Trevithick
Blücher - George Stephenson
Puffing Billy -William Hedley
Locomotion No 1 - Robert Stephenson
Sans Pareil - Timothy Hackworth
Stephenson's Rocket - George and Robert Stephenson
Other railway developments
Displacement lubricator, Ramsbottom safety valve, the water trough, the split piston ring - John Ramsbottom
Roads
Bowden cable - Frank Bowden
Cat's eye - Percy Shaw
Caterpillar track - Sir George Cayley
Hansom cab - Joseph Hansom
Seat belt - George Cayley
Sinclair C5 - Sir Clive Sinclair
Tarmac - E. Purnell Hooley
Belisha beacon - Leslie Hore-Belisha
Sea
Plimsol line - Samuel Plimsoll
Hovercraft - Christopher Cockerell
Lifeboat - Lionel Lukin
Resurgam - George Garrett
Submarine - William Bourne
Air
Aeronautics and flight - George Cayley
Jet Engine - Sir Frank Whittle
Sport
Football - Rules as know today were established in 1848 at Cambridge University
Rugby - William Webb Ellis
Miscellaneous
Daylight saving time - William Willett
Bayko - Charles Plimpton
Linoleum - Frederick Walton
Meccano - Frank Hornby
Crossword puzzle - Arthur Wynne
Gas Mask - John Tyndall and others
Steel-ribbed Umbrella - Samuel Fox back to top |