List of British innovations and discoveries facts for kids
This article is about amazing inventions and discoveries made by British people or in the United Kingdom! From ancient times to today, many clever ideas have come from this part of the world. These include inventions in machines, electronics, and industries, as well as breakthroughs in medicine, military tools, art, science, and even new ways of thinking about religion and fairness.
Historians say that two big events helped spark all this creativity: the scientific revolution in the 1600s and the industrial revolution in the 1700s and 1800s. Another helpful thing was the British patent system, which has been around since the Middle Ages and was officially written down in 1852.
Contents
- Awesome Inventions from the 1600s
- Cool Creations from the 1700s
- Amazing Ideas from the 1800s
- Modern Marvels from the 1900s
- Innovations from the 2000s
- Everyday Inventions and Ideas
- Ceramics and Pottery
- Clock Making
- Clothing and Textiles
- Communication Tools
- Computers and Digital Tech
- Engineering and Machines
- Household Items
- Ideas and Ways of Thinking
- Industrial Processes
- Medical Breakthroughs
- Military Innovations
- Mining Tools
- Musical Instruments
- Photography and Film
- Publishing Firsts
- Scientific Discoveries
- Sports and Games
- Transportation
- Other Cool Inventions
Awesome Inventions from the 1600s

The 1698 Savery Engine was one of the first steam-powered machines.
- 1605: The Bacon's cipher was a secret code invented by Sir Francis Bacon. It was a way to hide messages so only certain people could read them.
- 1614: John Napier wrote a book introducing logarithms. These are special numbers that make big math problems much easier to solve.
- 1620: The first working submarine was designed by William Bourne. It was actually built by a Dutch person!
- 1625: Sir Francis Bacon also did early tests on how to remove salt from water. This is called desalination.
- 1657: The Anchor escapement was invented by Robert Hooke. This part made clocks much more accurate.
- 1667: Robert Hooke also came up with a simple tin can telephone. You could talk through it using a string!
- 1668: Sir Isaac Newton invented the first working reflecting telescope. This helped people see far-off stars and planets better.
- 1698: The first commercial steam-powered device was made by Thomas Savery. It was used to pump water.
Cool Creations from the 1700s

The Watt steam engine was a huge improvement for factories. It was first thought of in 1765.
- 1701: An improved seed drill was designed by Jethro Tull. This machine made planting seeds in fields much faster and easier.
- 1705: Edmond Halley was the first to predict when a comet would return. We now call it Halley's Comet!
- 1712: The first useful steam engine was designed by Thomas Newcomen. It was a big step for industry.
- 1718: Edmond Halley also discovered that stars move in the sky. This is called stellar motion.
- 1730: The Rotherham plough was patented by Joseph Foljambe. It was the first plough to be built in factories and sold widely.
- 1737: Andrew Rodger invented the winnowing machine. This machine separated grain from its husks.
- 1740s: The first electrostatic motors were created by Andrew Gordon.
- 1744: The first mention of baseball was in a book by John Newbery. It described a game similar to modern baseball.
- 1753: Sir Hugh Dalrymple is given credit for inventing hollow-pipe drainage. This helped keep fields from getting too wet.
- 1761: The marine chronometer was invented by John Harrison. This clock was super accurate at sea, helping sailors know their exact location. It also helped make Greenwich the main starting point for world time.
- 1765: James Hargreaves invented the spinning jenny. This machine could spin many threads at once, which was a big deal for making clothes.
- 1765: James Small improved the design of the plough using math.
- 1767: Adam Ferguson published his work An Essay on the History of Civil Society. He is often called 'The Father of Modern Sociology'.
- 1776: Scottish economist Adam Smith published The Wealth of Nations. He is known as 'The father of modern economics'.
- 1776: The Watt steam engine started being produced. It was much more efficient than earlier steam engines and could be used for many industrial jobs.
- 1779: Samuel Crompton invented the spinning mule. This machine combined the best parts of the spinning jenny and another machine called the water frame.
- 1781: The The Iron Bridge was built by Abraham Darby III. It was the first large bridge made entirely of cast iron.
- 1783: Robert Bakewell helped create better farm animals through selective breeding.
- 1786: The threshing machine was invented by Andrew Meikle. This machine helped separate grain from stalks.
- 1798: Edward Jenner invented the first vaccine. This was for smallpox and has saved countless lives!
Amazing Ideas from the 1800s

A small part of the Analytical Engine, which Charles Babbage first described in 1837. It was like an early computer!
- 1802: Sir Humphry Davy created the first electric light. He used a powerful battery and a thin strip of metal.
- 1804: The world's first locomotive-pulled railway journey happened with Richard Trevithick's steam engine.
- 1807: Alexander John Forsyth invented percussion ignition. This was a key step for modern firearms.
- 1814: Robert Salmon patented the first machine for making hay.
- c1820: John Loudon McAdam developed the Macadam road building method. This made roads much smoother and stronger.
- 1822: Charles Babbage suggested the idea for a Difference engine. This was a mechanical calculator designed to solve complex math problems automatically.
- 1823: James Smith improved how soil drainage worked.
- 1824: William Aspdin got a patent for Portland cement, which is a type of concrete.
- 1825: William Sturgeon invented the electromagnet. This is a magnet that can be turned on and off with electricity.
- 1828: A mechanical reaping machine was invented by Patrick Bell. This machine helped harvest crops.
- 1831: Michael Faraday discovered electromagnetic induction. This is how transformers and most electric generators work today.
- 1835: Scotsman James Bowman Lindsay invented the incandescent light bulb.
- 1836: The Marsh test was developed by James Marsh. It could find arsenic poisoning.
- 1837: Charles Babbage described his Analytical Engine. This was the first mechanical, programmable computer.
- 1837: The Cooke and Wheatstone telegraph was the first successful electric telegraph. It was designed by Sir Charles Wheatstone and Sir William Fothergill Cooke.
- 1839: A pedal bicycle was invented by Kirkpatrick Macmillan.
- 1840: Sir Rowland Hill changed the postal system with the Uniform Penny Post. He also introduced the first postage stamp, the Penny Black.
- 1841: Alexander Bain patented his design for an electric clock.
- 1842: Superphosphate, the first chemical fertiliser, was patented by John Bennet Lawes.
- 1843: The SS Great Britain was launched. It was the world's first large passenger ship with an iron hull and a screw propeller. It was designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel.
- 1843: Alexander Bain also patented a design for a facsimile machine, which could send images over wires.
- 1846: Alexander Bain patented a chemical telegraph.
- 1847: George Boole introduced Boolean algebra in his book. This is the basic math behind digital computers.
- 1851: Frederick Bakewell showed improvements to the facsimile machine at the 1851 World's Fair.
- 1852: John Fowler invented a steam-driven ploughing engine.
- 1853: Scottish doctor Alexander Wood developed a medical hypodermic syringe. This needle was thin enough to go through skin.
- 1854: The Playfair cipher was invented by Charles Wheatstone. It was a way to encrypt messages.
- 1868: Mushet steel, the first commercial steel alloy, was invented by Robert Forester Mushet.
- 1868: Thomas Humber developed a bicycle where the pedals drove the back wheel.
- 1868: The first manual gas-lamp traffic lights were put up outside the Houses of Parliament.
- 1869: Thomas McCall also developed a bicycle design.
- 1873: Willoughby Smith discovered that the element selenium could conduct electricity when light shone on it. This led to photoelectric cells, used in early televisions.
- 1876: Scotsman Alexander Graham Bell patented the telephone in the U.S.
- 1876: The first safety bicycle was designed by Harry John Lawson. Unlike older bikes, the rider's feet could reach the ground, making it much safer.
- 1878: Joseph Wilson Swan showed off an incandescent light bulb.
- 1883: The Fresno scraper, a model for modern earth-moving machines, was invented by Scottish emigrant James Porteous in California.
- 1884: The light switch was invented by John Henry Holmes.
- 1884: The reaction steam turbine was invented by Charles Algernon Parsons.
- 1885: The first successful safety bicycle, the Rover, was designed by John Kemp Starley.
- 1886: Walter Parry Haskett Smith, known as the 'Father of Rock Climbing' in Britain, climbed the Napes Needle without safety gear.
- 1892: Sir Francis Galton created a way to classify fingerprints. This was very useful for forensic science.
- 1897: Sir Joseph John Thomson discovered the electron, a tiny part of an atom.
- 1897: The world's first wireless station was set up on the Isle of Wight.
Modern Marvels from the 1900s

A Colossus computer, developed by British codebreakers during World War II. It was one of the first electronic computers!
- 1901: The first wireless signal was sent across the Atlantic Ocean by Italian scientist Guglielmo Marconi. It went from England to Canada!
- 1901: The first successful light farm tractor was patented by Dan Albone.
- 1902: Edgar Purnell Hooley developed Tarmac, a material used for roads.
- 1906: The Dreadnought|1906|6 battleship was introduced. It was a revolutionary ship design.
- 1907: Henry Joseph Round discovered electroluminescence. This is the principle behind LED lights.
- 1910: The first official driving school, the British School of Motoring, opened in London.
- 1910: Frank Barnwell set the basic rules for aircraft design.
- 1916: The first military tank was used in battle.
- 1918: The Royal Air Force became the world's first independent air force.
- 1918: The HMS Argus was introduced. It was the first aircraft carrier with a full-length flight deck.
- 1922: Edwin Belin showed a mechanical scanning device in France. This was an early step towards modern television.
- 1926: John Logie Baird made the first public demonstration of a mechanical television. Later, in 1928, he showed the first colour television.
- 1930: The jet engine was patented by Sir Frank Whittle.
- 1932: The Anglepoise lamp was patented by George Carwardine.
- 1933: The Cat's eye road marking was invented by Percy Shaw. These help drivers see the road at night.
- 1936: Economist John Maynard Keynes published The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money. This book changed how economists thought.
- 1936: The BBC Television Service made the world's first public broadcasts of high-definition television.
- 1937: The 999 telephone number was introduced in London. It was the world's first emergency service number.
- 1939: Alan Turing designed the first version of the Bombe. This machine helped break messages encrypted by the Enigma machine during World War II.
- 1943: The Colossus computer started working. It was the world's first electronic digital programmable computer.
- 1949: The Manchester Mark 1 computer ran its first program without errors. It was important for its new features like index registers.
- 1951: Maurice Wilkes developed the idea of microprogramming. This helped control the CPU of a computer.
- 1951: LEO was the first electronic computer used for a business task (a payroll system).
- 1952: The de Havilland Comet, the world's first commercial jet airliner, was introduced.
- 1952: Autocode, the first compiled programming language, was developed by Alick Glennie.
- 1953: Englishman Francis Crick and American James Watson figured out the double helix structure of DNA. They used data from Rosalind Franklin. They won a Nobel Prize for this!
- 1955: The first accurate atomic clock was built by Louis Essen. This clock helped improve our understanding of time and physics.
- 1956: The Metrovick 950, the first commercial transistor computer, was built.
- 1961: The first electronic desktop calculators, the ANITA Mk7 and ANITA Mk8, were made.
- 1963: High-strength carbon fibre was invented by engineers.
- 1963: The Lava lamp was invented by Edward Craven Walker.
- 1964: Peter Higgs and other physicists proposed the theory of the Higgs boson. This particle was discovered in 2012.
- 1965: Rex Paterson set out rules for managing dairy farming.
- 1965: The Touchscreen was invented by E. A. Johnson.
- 1966: The cash machine and personal identification number (PIN) system were patented by James Goodfellow.
- 1969: The first carbon fibre fabric was woven in England.
- 1970: One of the first handheld televisions, the MTV-1, was developed by Sir Clive Sinclair.
- 1973: Clifford Cocks developed the algorithm for the RSA cipher. This is a very important way to encrypt information securely.
- 1976: M. Stanley Whittingham developed the first Lithium-ion battery. These batteries are in many of our devices today.
- 1979: The tree shelter was invented by Graham Tuley to protect young trees.
- 1979: One of the first laptop computers, the GRiD Compass, was designed by Bill Moggridge.
- 1984: DNA profiling was discovered by Sir Alec Jeffreys. This is used to identify people from their DNA.
- 1984: One of the world's first computer games to use 3D graphics, Elite, was developed.
- 1989: Sir Tim Berners-Lee wrote a proposal for what would become the World Wide Web. He also created HTML and HTTP, which are the foundations of the internet.
- 1989: The Touchpad pointing device was first developed for Psion computers.
- 1991: John Daugman filed a patent for an iris recognition algorithm. This is used in security systems that scan your eye.
- 1991: The source code for the world's first web browser, called WorldWideWeb, was released.
- 1992: The first SMS message was sent over the UK's mobile network.
- 1995: The world's first national DNA database was developed.
- 1996: Scientists at the Roslin institute cloned a sheep named Dolly. She was the first mammal cloned from an adult cell.
- 1997: The ThrustSSC jet-powered car set the land speed record.
Innovations from the 2000s
- 2003: Beagle 2, a British spacecraft, landed on Mars. It was found twelve years later.
- 2004: Graphene was isolated from graphite at the University of Manchester. This material is super strong and thin.
- 2005: A machine to lay rail track, the "Trac Rail Transposer", was patented.
- 2012: The Raspberry Pi, a small, affordable computer, was launched. It became popular for teaching programming.
- 2014: The Philae lander, built with British help, made the first ever landing on a comet!
- 2016: SABRE is a special rocket engine that can work in both air and space.
- 2020: The UK became the first country to use an approved COVID-19 vaccine.
Everyday Inventions and Ideas
Ceramics and Pottery
- Bone china – Josiah Spode
- Ironstone china – Charles James Mason
- Jasperware – Josiah Wedgwood
Clock Making
- Anchor escapement – Robert Hooke
- Balance wheel – Robert Hooke
- Coaxial escapement – George Daniels
- Grasshopper escapement and special watches for finding longitude – John Harrison
- Gridiron pendulum – John Harrison
- Lever escapement (a big improvement for pocket watches) – Thomas Mudge
- Longcase clock (grandfather clock) – William Clement
- Marine chronometer – John Harrison
- Self-winding watch – John Harwood
Clothing and Textiles
- Derby Rib (for making stockings) – Jedediah Strutt
- Flying shuttle – John Kay
- Mauveine (the first man-made dye) – William Henry Perkin
- Power loom – Edmund Cartwright
- Spinning frame – John Kay
- Spinning jenny – James Hargreaves
- Spinning mule – Samuel Crompton
- Sewing machine – Thomas Saint in 1790
- Water frame – Richard Arkwright
- Stocking frame – William Lee
- Warp-loom and Bobbinet – John Heathcoat
Communication Tools
- Christmas card – Sir Henry Cole
- Clockwork radio – Trevor Baylis
- Electromagnetic induction (key for radio waves) – Michael Faraday
- Fiber optics (for telecommunications) – Charles K. Kao and George Hockham
- Geostationary satellites (idea for using them for communication) – Arthur C Clarke
- Kennelly–Heaviside layer (a layer in the atmosphere that reflects radio waves) – Oliver Heaviside
- Light signalling between ships – Admiral Philip H. Colomb
- Mechanical pencil – Sampson Mordan and John Isaac Hawkins
- Pencil – Cumbria, England
- Pitman Shorthand – Isaac Pitman
- Adhesive postage stamp and the postmark – James Chalmers
- Radar – Robert Watson-Watt
- Radio (first transmission) – David E. Hughes
- Underlying principles of Radio – James Clerk Maxwell
- Radio communication (development) – William Eccles
- Roller printing – Thomas Bell
- Materials for today's liquid crystal displays – Team led by Sir Brynmor Jones, developed by George Gray and Ken Harrison.
- Shorthand (first modern version) – Timothy Bright
- 'Binaural sound' for Stereo – Alan Blumlein
- Print stereotyping – William Ged
- Teletext Information Service – The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)
- Totalisator (for betting) – George Julius
- Typewriter (first patent for a similar device) – Henry Mill
- Teleprinter – Frederick G. Creed
- Universal Standard Time – Sir Sandford Fleming
- Valentines card (modern card) – 18th century England
Computers and Digital Tech
- ACE and Pilot ACE computers – Alan Turing
- ARM architecture (used in 98% of mobile phones)
- Atlas (an early supercomputer with many modern features) – Team led by Tom Kilburn
- The first graphical computer game OXO – A.S. Douglas
- First computer generated music – Christopher Strachey
- Denotational semantics (for programming languages) – Christopher Strachey
- Deutsch–Jozsa algorithm and first universal quantum computer described – David Deutsch
- Digital audio player – Kane Kramer
- EDSAC (first complete computer using the von Neumann architecture) – Maurice Wilkes
- EDSAC 2 (first computer with a microprogrammed control unit) – Team led by Maurice Wilkes
- Ferranti Mark 1 (first commercial general-purpose electronic computer) – Freddie Williams and Tom Kilburn
- Flip-flop circuit (basis of electronic memory) – William Eccles and F. W. Jordan
- Conceptualised Integrated Circuit – Geoffrey W.A. Dummer
- Josephson effect (important for superconductors) – Brian David Josephson
- Contributions to the Linux kernel – Andrew Morton & Alan Cox
- Manchester Baby (world's first electronic stored-program computer) – Frederic Calland Williams & Tom Kilburn
- Osborne 1 (first successful portable computer) – Adam Osborne
- Packet switching (co-invented, for sending data in chunks) – Donald Davies
- First PC-compatible palmtop computer (Atari Portfolio) – Ian H. S. Cullimore
- First programmer – Ada Lovelace
- First Programming Language (for the Analytical Engine) – Charles Babbage and Ada Lovelace
- Psion Organiser (world's first handheld computer) – Psion PLC
- First experimental quantum algorithm – Jonathan A. Jones
- The first rugged computer – Husky (computer)
- Sumlock ANITA calculator (world's first all-electronic desktop calculator) – Bell Punch Co
- Sinclair Executive (first 'slimline' pocket calculator) – Sir Clive Sinclair
- Co-Inventor of the first trackball device – Tom Cranston, Fred Longstaff and Kenyon Taylor
- Universal Turing machine (a model for computers and operating systems) – Alan Turing
- Williams tube (for storing digital data) – Freddie Williams & Tom Kilburn
- Wolfram's 2-state 3-symbol Turing machine – Stephen Wolfram
Engineering and Machines
- Adjustable spanner – Edwin Beard Budding
- Backhoe loader – Joseph Cyril Bamford
- First coke-consuming Blast Furnace – Abraham Darby I
- First working Brushless Alternator – Newage Engineers
- Carey Foster bridge – Carey Foster
- Cavity magnetron (key for microwaves and radar) – John Randall and Harry Boot
- First compression ignition engine (Diesel Engine) – Herbert Akroyd Stuart
- Hydraulic crane – William George Armstrong
- Crookes tube (early cathode ray tube) – William Crookes
- The first electrical measuring instrument, the electroscope – William Gilbert
- Fourdrinier machine (for making paper) – Henry Fourdrinier
- Francis turbine – James B. Francis
- Gas turbine – John Barber (engineer)
- Hot air engine – George Cayley
- Hot bulb engine – Herbert Akroyd Stuart
- Hydraulic accumulator
- The world's first house powered by hydroelectricity – Cragside, Northumberland
- Hydrogen Fuel Cell – William Robert Grove
- Internal combustion engine – Samuel Brown
- light-emitting diode (theorised) – H. J. Round
- Linear motor – Charles Wheatstone, improved by Eric Laithwaite
- First person to publicly predict the Microchip – Geoffrey W.A. Dummer
- Microturbines – Chris and Paul Bladon of Bladon Jets
- The world's first oil refinery – James Young
- Pendulum governor – Frederick Lanchester
- Modified Newcomen steam engine (Pickard engine) – James Pickard
- Contributions to Radar – Scotsman Robert Watson-Watt and Englishman Arnold Frederic Wilkins
- Pioneer of radio guidance systems – Archibald Low
- Screw-cutting lathe – Henry Hindley and Henry Maudslay
- Standard for screw threads – Joseph Whitworth
- Rectilinear Slide rule – William Oughtred
- Compound steam turbine – Charles Algernon Parsons
- Stirling engine – Robert Stirling
- Supercharger – Dugald Clerk
- Electric transformer – Michael Faraday
- Two-stroke engine – Joseph Day
- The Wimshurst machine (for producing high voltages) – James Wimshurst
- Wind tunnel – Francis Herbert Wenham
- Vacuum diode (a vacuum tube) – John Ambrose Fleming
Household Items
- Perambulator (baby carriage) – William Kent
- Collapsible baby buggy – Owen Maclaren
- "Bagless" vacuum cleaner – James Dyson
- "Puffing Billy" (first powered vacuum cleaner) – Hubert Cecil Booth
- Fire extinguisher – George William Manby
- Folding carton – Charles Henry Foyle
- Lawn mower – Edwin Beard Budding
- Rubber band – Stephen Perry
- Daniell cell (a type of battery) – John Frederic Daniell
- Tin can – Peter Durand
- Corkscrew – Reverend Samuell Henshall
- Mouse trap – James Henry Atkinson
- Modern flushing toilet – John Harington
- The pay toilet – John Nevil Maskelyne
- Electric toaster – Rookes Evelyn Bell Crompton
- Teasmade (a machine that makes tea automatically) – Albert E. Richardson
- Magnifying glass – Roger Bacon
- Thermosiphon (basis of central heating) – Thomas Fowler
- Automatic electric kettle – Russell Hobbs
- Thermos Flask – James Dewar
- Toothbrush – William Edward Addis
- Sunglasses – James Ayscough
- The Refrigerator – William Cullen
- The Flush toilet – Alexander Cummings
- First distiller to triple distill Irish whiskey – John Jameson (Whisky distiller)
- First automated can-filling machine – John West
- Waterproof Mackintosh coat – Charles Macintosh
- The kaleidoscope – Sir David Brewster
- Keiller's marmalade (first rind-suspended marmalade) – Janet Keiller
- The Lucifer friction match – Sir Isaac Holden
- The self filling pen – Robert Thomson
- Cotton-reel thread – J & J Clark
- Lime Cordial – Peter Burnett
- Bovril beef extract – John Lawson Johnston
- Wellington Boots
- Can Opener – Robert Yeates
Ideas and Ways of Thinking
- Agnosticism (the idea that we can't know if God exists) – Thomas Henry Huxley
- Anglicanism (a branch of Christianity) – Henry VIII of England
- Classical Liberalism (a political idea about freedom) – John Locke
- Malthusianism (ideas about population growth) – Thomas Robert Malthus
- Methodism (a Christian movement) – John Wesley and Charles Wesley
- Quakerism (a religious group) – George Fox
- Utilitarianism (an ethical idea about doing the greatest good) – Jeremy Bentham
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
- Power Loom – Edmund Cartwright
- Parkes process – Alexander Parkes
- Lead chamber process – John Roebuck
- Float glass process (for making flat glass) – Alastair Pilkington
- The first commercial electroplating process – George Elkington
- The Wilson Yarn Clearer – Peter Wilson
- Contact Process
- Froth Flotation – William Haynes and A H Higgins
- Extrusion – Joseph Bramah
Medical Breakthroughs
- First correct description of blood circulation – William Harvey
- Smallpox vaccine – Edward Jenner
- Surgical forceps – Stephen Hales
- Antisepsis in surgery – Joseph Lister
- Artificial intraocular lens transplant surgery (for cataracts) – Harold Ridley
- Clinical thermometer – Thomas Clifford Allbutt
- Isolation of fibrinogen and description of red blood cells – William Hewson (surgeon)
- Discovering how to culture embryonic stem cells – Martin Evans
- First blood pressure measurement and cardiac catheterisation – Stephen Hales
- Pioneer of anaesthesia and father of epidemiology (for finding the source of cholera) – John Snow (physician)
- Pioneered use of sodium cromoglycate for asthma – Roger Altounyan
- First to show that cancer can be caused by environment – Percivall Pott
- Performed the first successful blood transfusion – James Blundell
- Discovered active ingredient of Aspirin – Edward Stone
- Discovery of Protein crystallography – Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin
- The world's first successful stem cell transplant – John Raymond Hobbs
- First typhoid vaccine – Almroth Wright
- Pioneer of epilepsy treatment – Edward Henry Sieveking
- Discovery of Nitrous oxide (laughing gas) and its anaesthetic properties – Humphry Davy
- Computed Tomography (CT scanner) – Godfrey Newbold Hounsfield
- Gray's Anatomy (first complete human anatomy textbook) – Henry Gray
- Discovered Parkinson's disease – James Parkinson
- General anaesthetic – Pioneered by Scotsman James Young Simpson and Englishman John Snow
- Contributions to magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) – Sir Peter Mansfield
- Statistical parametric mapping – Karl J. Friston
- Nasal cannula – Wilfred Jones
- First baby genetically selected to be free of breast cancer – University College London
- Acetylcholine – Henry Hallett Dale
- EKG (underlying principles) – various
- Discovery of vitamins – Frederick Gowland Hopkins
- Earliest pharmacopoeia in English
- The hip replacement operation – John Charnley
- Description of Hay fever – John Bostock (physician)
- Pioneering surgical anaesthesia with Chloroform – Sir James Young Simpson
- Discovery of hypnotism – James Braid
- Identifying the mosquito as the carrier of malaria – Sir Ronald Ross
- Identifying the cause of brucellosis – Sir David Bruce
- Discovering the vaccine for typhoid fever – Sir William B. Leishman
- Discovering insulin – John Macleod with others
- Ambulight PDT (light-emitting sticking plaster for skin cancer) – Ambicare Dundee's Ninewells Hospital and St Andrews University
- Primary creator of the artificial kidney – Professor Kenneth Lowe
- Developing the first beta-blocker drugs – Sir James W. Black
- Glasgow Coma Scale – Graham Teasdale and Bryan J. Jennett
- EKG [Electrocardiography] – Alexander Muirhead
- Development of ibuprofen
- The earliest discovery of an antibiotic, penicillin – Sir Alexander Fleming
- Discovering an effective tuberculosis treatment – Sir John Crofton
- Discovering secretin, the first hormone – William Bayliss and Ernest Starling
Military Innovations
- Angled Flight Deck, Optical Landing System and Steam catapult for Aircraft Carriers – Dennis Cambell CB DSC, Nicholas Goodhart and Commander Colin C. Mitchell RNVR
- Armstrong Gun – Sir William Armstrong
- Bailey bridge – Donald Bailey
- Battle Tank/The tank – Walter Gordon Wilson and William Tritton
- Bouncing bomb – Barnes Wallis
- Bullpup firearm configuration – Thorneycroft carbine
- Chobham armour
- Congreve rocket – William Congreve
- Depth charge
- Dreadnought battleship – HMS Dreadnought
- The side by side Boxlock action (double barrelled shotgun) – Anson and Deeley
- Percussion ignition
- Turret ship (warship with rotating gun turret) – HMS Trusty
- Fairbairn–Sykes fighting knife – William Ewart Fairbairn and Eric A. Sykes
- Fighter aircraft – The Vickers F.B.5 Gunbus
- Safety fuse – William Bickford
- H2S radar (airborne radar for bombing) – Alan Blumlein
- Harrier jump jet (Vertical take-off and landing aircraft)
- High explosive squash head – Sir Charles Dennistoun Burney
- Livens Projector – William Howard Livens
- The first self-powered machine gun Maxim gun – Sir Hiram Maxim
- Mills bomb (first modern fragmentation grenade)
- Nuclear fission chain reaction – Leo Szilard
- Puckle Gun – James Puckle
- Rubber bullet and Plastic bullet – Developed by the Ministry of Defence
- Self-propelled gun – The Gun Carrier Mark I
- Shrapnel shell – Henry Shrapnel
- Smokeless propellant Cordite – Frederick Abel
- The world's first practical underwater sound detection (Sonar) – Robert William Boyle and Albert Beaumont Wood
- Special forces – SAS Founded by Sir David Stirling
- Stun grenades – invented by the Special Air Service
- Torpedo – Robert Whitehead
- The Whitworth rifle (considered the first sniper rifle) – Sir Joseph Whitworth
Mining Tools
- Beam engine (for pumping water from mines)
- Davy lamp – Humphry Davy
- Geordie lamp – George Stephenson
- Tunnel boring machine – James Henry Greathead and Isambard Kingdom Brunel
Musical Instruments
- Concertina – Charles Wheatstone
- Theatre organ – Robert Hope-Jones
- Logical bassoon (electronically controlled) – Giles Brindley
- Northumbrian smallpipes
- Tuning fork – John Shore
- The piano footpedal – John Broadwood
Photography and Film
- Ambrotype – Frederick Scott Archer
- Calotype – William Fox Talbot
- Cinematography – William Friese-Greene
- Collodion process – Frederick Scott Archer
- Collodion-albumen process – Joseph Sidebotham
- Dry plate process (first successful photographic medium) – Richard Leach Maddox
- First Film called "The Horse in Motion" – Eadweard Muybridge
- Kinetoscope (first Motion picture camera) – William Kennedy Laurie Dickson
- Kinemacolor (first successful colour motion picture process) – George Albert Smith
- The first movie projector, the Zoopraxiscope – Eadweard Muybridge
- Photographic negative – William Fox Talbot
- Thomas Wedgwood (pioneer of photography)
- Single-lens reflex camera and earliest Panoramic Camera – Thomas Sutton
- Stereoscope – Charles Wheatstone
Publishing Firsts
- Oldest publisher and printer in the world – Cambridge University Press
- First book printed in English – "The Recuyell of the Historyes of Troye" by William Caxton
- The first edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica
- The first English textbook on surgery
- The first modern pharmacopoeia – William Cullen
- The first postcards and picture postcards in the UK
Scientific Discoveries
- Triple achromatic lens – Peter Dollond
- Joint first to discover alpha decay via quantum tunnelling – Ronald Wilfred Gurney
- Alpha and Beta rays discovered – Ernest Rutherford
- Argon element discovered – John Strutt, 3rd Baron Rayleigh with Scotsman William Ramsay
- Atom (nuclear model of) discovered – Ernest Rutherford
- Atomic theory – John Dalton
- Atwood machine (for showing motion laws) – George Atwood
- Barometer (Marine) – Robert Hooke
- Bell's theorem – John Stewart Bell
- Calculus – Sir Isaac Newton
- Cell biology (discovery of cells) – Robert Hooke
- Chromatography (Partition) – Richard Laurence Millington Synge and Archer J.P. Martin
- Coggeshall slide rule – Henry Coggeshall
- Correct theory of combustion – Robert Hooke
- Coumarin synthesised (first synthetic perfume) – William Henry Perkin
- Dew Point Hygrometer – John Frederic Daniell
- Earnshaw's theorem – Samuel Earnshaw
- Electrical generator (dynamo) – Michael Faraday
- Electromagnet – William Sturgeon
- Electron and isotopes discovered – J. J. Thomson
- Equals sign – Robert Recorde
- Erbium-doped fibre amplifier – Sir David N. Payne
- Faraday cage – Michael Faraday
- First Law of Thermodynamics (electricity as energy) – James Prescott Joule
- Hawking radiation – Stephen Hawking
- Helium – Norman Lockyer
- Holography – Dennis Gabor, improved by Nicholas J. Phillips
- Hooke's Law (equation for elasticity) – Robert Hooke
- Infrared radiation – William Herschel
- Iris diaphragm – Robert Hooke
- The Law of Gravity – Sir Isaac Newton
- Magneto-optical effect – Michael Faraday
- Mass spectrometer invented – J. J. Thomson
- Maxwell's equations – James Clerk Maxwell
- Micrometer – William Gascoigne and Henry Maudslay
- Neutron discovered – James Chadwick
- Newtonian telescope – Sir Isaac Newton
- Newton's laws of motion – Sir Isaac Newton
- First full-scale commercial Nuclear Reactor – Calder Hall
- Nuclear transfer (cloning) – Ian Wilmut and Keith Campbell
- Oxygen gas (O2) discovered – Joseph Priestley
- Pell's equation – John Pell
- Penrose graphical notation – Roger Penrose
- Periodic Table – John Alexander Reina Newlands
- pion and (pi-meson) discovered – Cecil Frank Powell
- Pre-empting elements of General Relativity theory – William Kingdon Clifford
- Proton discovered – Ernest Rutherford
- Radar pioneering development – Arnold Frederic Wilkins
- Rayleigh scattering (why the sky is blue) – John William Strutt, 3rd Baron Rayleigh
- Seismograph – John Milne
- Sinclair Executive (world's first small electronic pocket calculator) – Sir Clive Sinclair
- Slide rule – William Oughtred
- Standard deviation – Francis Galton
- Symbol for "is less than" and "is greater than" – Thomas Harriot
- Thomson scattering – J. J. Thomson
- Weather map – Sir Francis Galton
- Wheatstone bridge – Samuel Hunter Christie
- "×" symbol for multiplication and "sin", "cos" – William Oughtred
Astronomy Discoveries
- Discovery of the "White Spot" on Saturn – Will Hay
- Discovery of Proxima Centauri (closest star to the Sun) – Robert Innes
- Discovery of Uranus and its moons Titania, Oberon, Enceladus, Mimas – Sir William Herschel
- Discovery of Triton and moons Hyperion, Ariel and Umbriel – William Lassell
- Planetarium – John Theophilus Desaguliers
- Predicts the existence and location of Neptune – John Couch Adams
- Contributions to radio astronomy – Bernard Lovell
- Newtonian telescope – Sir Isaac Newton
- Achromatic doublet lens – John Dollond
- Coining the phrase 'Big Bang' – Fred Hoyle
- First theorised existence of black holes, binary stars – John Michell
- Stephen Hawking (important contributions to black holes and cosmology)
- Spiral galaxies – William Parsons, 3rd Earl of Rosse
- Discovery of Halley's Comet – Edmond Halley
- Discovery of pulsars – Antony Hewish
- Discovery of Sunspots and first drawing of the Moon through a telescope – Thomas Harriot
- The Eddington limit (natural limit to star brightness) – Arthur Stanley Eddington
- Aperture synthesis (for imaging radio sources) – Martin Ryle and Antony Hewish
Biology Discoveries
- Theory of Evolution – Charles Darwin
Chemistry Discoveries
- Aluminium first discovered – Sir Humphry Davy
- Concept of atomic number – Henry Moseley
- Baconian method (early scientific method) – Sir Francis Bacon
- Benzene first isolated – Michael Faraday
- Boron first isolated – Humphry Davy
- Bragg's law and X-ray crystallography – William Henry Bragg and William Lawrence Bragg
- Buckminsterfullerene discovered – Sir Harry Kroto
- Callendar effect (linking carbon dioxide to global temperature) – Guy Stewart Callendar
- Chemical Oceanography established – Robert Boyle
- Dalton's law and Law of multiple proportions – John Dalton
- The structure of DNA and molecular biology – co-developed by Francis Crick and James Watson
- DNA sequencing by chain termination – Frederick Sanger
- Electrolysis and electrochemistry discovered – William Nicholson and Anthony Carlisle
- Chemical Fertilizer invented – John Lawes
- Structure of Ferrocene discovered – Geoffrey Wilkinson & others
- Pioneer of the Fuel Cell – Francis Thomas Bacon
- Henderson limit – Richard Henderson
- Hydrogen discovered – Henry Cavendish
- Introns discovered in eukaryotic DNA – Richard J. Roberts
- Concept of Isotopes first proposed – Frederick Soddy
- Josephson voltage standard – Brian Josephson
- Kerosene invented – Abraham Gesner and James Young
- Kinetic theory of gases developed – James Maxwell
- Proposes the law of octaves (precursor to Periodic Law) – John Newlands
- Pioneer of Meteorology (cloud naming system) – Luke Howard
- Potassium first isolated – Humphry Davy
- Rayleigh scattering – John Strutt, 3rd Baron Rayleigh
- Silicones discovered – Frederic Kipping
- Publishes Opus Maius (early Scientific Method) – Roger Bacon
- Publishes Aristotelian commentaries (early Scientific Method) – Robert Grosseteste
- Sodium first isolated – Humphry Davy
- Thallium discovered – William Crookes
- Valence discovered – Edward Frankland
- Chemical composition of Water discovered – Henry Cavendish
- Weston cell – Edward Weston (chemist)
- The synthesising of Xenon hexafluoroplatinate – Neil Bartlett
Sports and Games
- Football (modern rules) – Cambridge University, Sheffield F.C.
- Rugby – William Webb Ellis
- Cricket (traced back to 13th century)
- Tennis (originated in England)
- Boxing (England played a key role in modern boxing)
- Golf (modern game invented in Scotland)
- Billiards
- Badminton
- Darts (numbering layout by Brian Gamlin)
- Table-Tennis (invented on dinner tables)
- Snooker (invented by the British Army in India)
- Ping pong (origins in England)
- Bowls (traced to 13th century England)
- Field hockey (grew from English public schools)
- Netball (emerged from early women's basketball) – Madame Österberg's College
- Rounders (originated in England)
- The Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race (first race in 1829)
- Thoroughbred Horseracing (developed in England)
- Polo (modern rules established in England)
- The format of Modern Olympics – William Penny Brookes
- The first Paralympic games competition – Ludwig Guttmann
- Hawk-Eye ball tracking system
Transportation
- Pedal driven bicycle – Kirkpatrick Macmillan
Aviation and Flight
- Aeronautics and flight (identified four forces of flight) – George Cayley
- Steam-powered flight with the Aerial Steam Carriage – John Stringfellow
- VTOL (vertical take-off and landing) fighter-bomber aircraft – Hawker P.1127, designed by Sydney Camm
- The first commercial jet airliner (de Havilland Comet)
- The first Supersonic Airliner – Concorde
- The first aircraft capable of supercruise – English Electric Lightning
- Ailerons – Matthew Piers Watt Boulton
- Head-up display (HUD) – The Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE)
- Pioneer of parachute design – Robert Cocking
- The first human-powered aircraft (SUMPAC) – The University of Southampton
- Hale rockets (improved Congreve rocket with Thrust vectoring) – William Hale
- SABRE engine (hypersonic jet/rocket)
- Air Force – Royal Air Force
Railways
- Great Western Railway – Isambard Kingdom Brunel
- Stockton and Darlington Railway (world's first operational steam passenger railway)
- First inter-city steam-powered railway – Liverpool and Manchester Railway
Locomotives
- Blücher – George Stephenson
- Puffing Billy – William Hedley
- Locomotion No 1 – Robert Stephenson
- Sans Pareil – Timothy Hackworth
- Stourbridge Lion – Foster, Rastrick and Company
- Stephenson's Rocket – George and Robert Stephenson
- Salamanca – Matthew Murray
- Flying Scotsman – Sir Nigel Gresley
Other Railway Developments
- Displacement lubricator, Ramsbottom safety valve, the water trough, the split piston ring – John Ramsbottom
- Maglev (transport) rail system – Eric Laithwaite
- World's first underground railway and first rapid transit system – London Underground
- Advanced Passenger Train (APT) (experimental High Speed Train with tilting) – British Rail
- Anti-trespass panels – Rosehill Rail
Roads and Vehicles
- Bowden cable – Frank Bowden
- Hansom cab – Joseph Hansom
- Seat belt – George Cayley
- Sinclair C5 – Sir Clive Sinclair
- Tarmac – E. Purnell Hooley
- Tension-spoke wire wheels – George Cayley
- LGOC B-type (first mass-produced bus)
- Pneumatic tyre – Robert William Thomson
- Disc brakes – Frederick W. Lanchester
- Belisha beacon – Leslie Hore-Belisha
- Lotus 25 (first modern F1 race car) – Colin Chapman, Team Lotus
- Bus Rapid Transit (the Runcorn Busway) – Arthur Ling
- Horstmann suspension (for armoured vehicles) – Sidney Horstmann
- Steam fire engine – John Braithwaite
- Penny-farthing – James Starley
- Dynasphere – John Archibald Purves
- Caterpillar track – Richard Lovell Edgeworth
- Mini-roundabout – Frank Blackmore
- Quadbike – Standard Motor Company
Sea Travel
- Plimsoll Line – Samuel Plimsoll
- Hovercraft – Christopher Cockerell
- Lifeboat – Lionel Lukin
- Resurgam (early submarine) – George Garrett
- Transit (ship) – Richard Hall Gower
- Turbinia (first steam turbine powered steamship) – Sir Charles Algernon Parsons
- Diving Equipment/Scuba Gear – Henry Fleuss
- Diving bell – Edmund Halley
- Sextant – John Bird
- Octant (instrument) – John Hadley and Thomas Godfrey
- Whirling speculum (precursor to gyroscope) – John Serson
- Screw propeller – Francis Pettit Smith
- The world's first patent for an underwater echo ranging device (Sonar) – Lewis Fry Richardson
- Hydrophone – Research led by Ernest Rutherford
- Hydrofoil – John Isaac Thornycroft
- Inflatable boat
- HMS Warrior (world's first iron armoured warship)
Other Cool Inventions
- Oldest police force in continuous operation – Marine Police Force
- Oldest life insurance company – Amicable Society for a Perpetual Assurance Office
- First Glee Club – Harrow School
- Oldest arts festival – Norwich
- Oldest music festival – The Three Choirs Festival
- Oldest literary festival – The Cheltenham Literature Festival
- Bayko (a construction toy) – Charles Plimpton
- Linoleum (a floor covering) – Frederick Walton
- Chocolate bar – J. S. Fry & Sons
- Meccano (a model construction system) – Frank Hornby
- Crossword puzzle – Arthur Wynne
- Gas mask – John Tyndall
- Graphic telescope – Cornelius Varley
- Steel-ribbed Umbrella – Samuel Fox
- Plastic – Alexander Parkes
- Plasticine (modelling clay) – William Harbutt
- Carbonated soft drink – Joseph Priestley
- Friction Match – John Walker
- Invented the rubber balloon – Michael Faraday
- Proposal of a new decimal measurement system – John Wilkins
- Edmondson railway ticket – Thomas Edmondson
- The world's first Nature Reserve – Charles Waterton
- Public Park – Joseph Paxton
- Scouts – Robert Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell
- Spirograph (a drawing toy) – Denys Fisher
- The Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) – George Williams
- The Salvation Army – Methodist minister William Booth
- Prime meridian – George Biddell Airy
- First complete printed translation of the Bible into English – Myles Coverdale
- Founder of the Bank of Scotland – John Holland
- Venn diagram – John Venn
- Vulcanisation of rubber – Thomas Hancock
- Silicone – Frederick Kipping
- Pykrete – Geoffrey Pyke
- Vantablack (the world's blackest known substance)
- Stamp collecting – John Edward Gray
- lorgnette (a type of eyeglasses) – George Adams
- Boys' Brigade
- Bank of England – William Paterson
- Bank of France – John Law
- Colour photography (first permanent colour photograph) – James Clerk Maxwell
- Barnardos (children's charity)
- Boy Scouts
- Girl Guides
- RSPCA (for animal welfare)
- RSPB (for bird protection)
- RNLI (Royal National Lifeboat Institution)
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List of British innovations and discoveries Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.