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* 1822: The 
* 1712: Atmospheric steam engine invented by 
* 1841: Widely accepted standard for
* 13th century: Magnifying glass defined by Roger Bacon (c.?1214-c.?1292).
* Before 1596: Modern flushing toilet invented by John Harington (writer), John Harington (1560–1612). The term 'John', used particularly in the US, is generally accepted as a direct reference to its inventor.
* 1733: Baby transport, Perambulator developed by William Kent (c. 1685–1748).
* 1780: First mass-produced toothbrush produced by William Addis (entrepreneur), William Addis (1734–1808).
* 1795: First corkscrew patent granted to the Reverend Samuel Henshall (1764/5–1807).
* 1810: Tin can for food preservation patented by merchant Peter Durand (dates not known).
* 1818: Modern fire extinguisher invented by George William Manby (1765–1854).
* 1828: Thermosiphon, which forms the basis of most modern central heating systems, invented by Thomas Fowler (inventor), Thomas Fowler (1777–1843).
* 1830: Lawn mower invented by Edwin Beard Budding (1796–1846).
* 1836: The Daniell cell – a type of electrochemical cell; an element of an Battery (electricity), electric battery – invented by John Frederic Daniell (1790–1845).
* 1840: Postage stamp invented by
* 1740: Crucible steel, English crucible steel developed by Benjamin Huntsman (1704–1776).
* 1743: Sheffield plate, a layered combination of silver and copper, invented by Thomas Boulsover (1705–1788).
* 1746: The lead chamber process, for producing sulfuric acid in large quantities, invented by John Roebuck (1718–1794).
* c. 1760-c. 1840: Pioneers of the
* Anglo-Saxon times: The earliest pharmacopoeia in English (Cotton Vitellius, MS C. iii).
* 1628: First correct description of Circulatory system, circulation of the blood in ''Exercitatio Anatomica de Motu Cordis et Sanguinis in Animalibus, De Motu Cordis'' by William Harvey (1578–1657).
* 18th century: Invention of surgical forceps attributed to Stephen Hales (1677–1761).Scientific American inventions and discoveries By Rodney P. Carlisle
* c. 1711: First blood pressure measurement and History of invasive and interventional cardiology, first cardiac catheterisation by Stephen Hales (1677–1761).
* 1763: Aspirin's active ingredient discovered by Edward Stone (clergyman), Edward Stone (1702–1768).
* 1770s: Isolation of fibrin, a key protein in the blood coagulation process; investigation of the structure of the lymphatic system; and description of red blood cells by surgeon William Hewson (surgeon), William Hewson (1739–1774), so-called "father of haematology".
* 1775: First demonstration that a cancer may be caused by an environmental carcinogen by Percivall Pott (1714–1788), also a founding father of orthopedy.
* 1794: Colour blindness first described in a paper titled "Extraordinary facts relating to the vision of colours" by John Dalton (1766–1844).
* 1798: Smallpox vaccine, the first successful vaccine to be developed, invented by Edward 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."
* 1800: Anaesthetic properties of nitrous oxide (entonox/"laughing gas") discovered by Humphry Davy (1778–1829).
* 1817: First description of (what would come to be called) Parkinson's disease in "An Essay on the Shaking Palsy" by James Parkinson (1755–1824).
* 1818 or 1829: First successful blood transfusion performed by James Blundell (physician), James Blundell (1791–1878).
* 1819: First accurate description of hay fever by John Bostock (physician), John Bostock (1773–1846).
* 1847: Ophthalmoscope conceived by 
* 1860 onwards: Modern nursing pioneered by Florence Nightingale (1820–1910).
* 1867: Antiseptic, Antisepsis in surgery invented by Joseph Lister, 1st Baron Lister, Joseph Lister (1827–1912).
* 1867: Clinical thermometer devised by Thomas Clifford Allbutt (1836–1925).
* 1887: First practical Electrocardiography, ECG machine invented by Augustus Desiré Waller, Augustus Waller of St Mary's Hospital (London), St Mary's Hospital in London.
* 1898: The mosquito identified as the carrier of malaria by Sir Ronald Ross (1857–1932).
* 1901: Amino acid Tryptophan discovered by Frederick Gowland Hopkins (1861–1947).
* 1902: First typhoid vaccine developed by Almroth Wright (1861–1947).
* 1912: Vitamins discovered by Frederick Gowland Hopkins (1861–1947).
* 1915: Acetylcholine (ACh) identified by Sir Henry Hallett Dale (1875–1968) for its action on heart tissue.
* 1937 onwards: Protein crystallography developed by Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin (1910–1994); Hodgkin solved the structures of cholesterol (1937), penicillin (1946), and vitamin B12 (1956), for which she was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1964; in 1969, she succeeded in solving the structure of insulin, on which she worked for over thirty years.
* 1937: Discovery of the Citric acid cycle ("Krebs Cycle") by German-born (Naturalization, naturalised) British physician and biochemist Hans Adolf Krebs (1900–1981) at the University of Sheffield.
* 1940s: Groundbreaking research on the use of penicillin in the treatment of venereal disease carried out in London by Jack Suchet (1908–2001) with Scottish scientist Sir Alexander Fleming.
* 1941: Crucial first steps in the mass production of penicillin made by Norman Heatley (1911–2004).
* 1949: Diagnostic ultrasound first used to assess the thickness of bowel tissue by English-born physicist John J. Wild (1914–2009), so-called "father of medical ultrasound".
* 1949–1950: Artificial intraocular lens transplant surgery for cataract patients developed by Harold Ridley (ophthalmologist), Harold Ridley (1906–2001).
* Late 1950s: Peak flow meter, Peak Flow Meter invented by Martin Wright (bioengineer), Martin Wright (1912–2001), also the creator of the Syringe driver, Syringe Driver.
* 1960 onwards: The hip replacement operation (in which a stainless steel stem and 22mm head fit into a polymer socket and both parts are fixed into position by Poly(methyl methacrylate), PMMA cement) pioneered by John Charnley (1911–1982).
* 1960s: First use of sodium cromoglycate for asthma Preventive healthcare, prophylaxis associated with Roger Altounyan (1922–1987).
* 1967 onwards: Computed Tomography and first commercial CT scanner invented by Sir Godfrey Hounsfield (1919–2004) in
* 1718: The Puckle Gun or ''Defence Gun'', a multi-shot gun mounted on a tripod, invented by James Puckle (1667–1724).
* 1784: Shrapnel shell, an anti-personnel artillery munition, developed by Henry Shrapnel (1761–1842).
* 1804: The Congreve rocket, a weapon, invented by Sir William Congreve (inventor), William Congreve (1772–1828).
* 1830s: The Fuse (explosives), safety fuse invented by William Bickford (1774–1834), William Bickford (1774–1834).
* 1854: The Whitworth rifle, often called the "sharpshooter" because of its accuracy and considered one of the earliest examples of a sniper rifle, invented by Sir 
* 1914: First operational fighter aircraft, the Vickers F.B.5 (a.k.a. th "Gunbus"), developed from a design by Archibald Low (1888–1956).
* 1916: The tank developed and first used in combat by the British during Tanks in World War I, World War I as a means to break the deadlock of trench warfare. Key co-inventors include Major Walter Gordon Wilson (1874–1957) and Sir William Tritton (1875–1946).
* 1916: The first effective depth charge, an anti-submarine warfare weapon, developed from a design by Herbert Taylor at the RN Torpedo and Mine School, HMS Vernon (shore establishment), HMS ''Vernon''.
* 1916: The Livens Projector, a weapon, created by William Howard Livens (1889–1964).
* 1917: Dazzle camouflage created by Norman Wilkinson (artist), Norman Wilkinson (1878–1971).
* 1917: ASDIC active sonar, the first practical underwater active sound-detection apparatus, developed by Canadian physicist Robert William Boyle and English physicist Albert Beaumont Wood (1890–1964).
* 1940s: High-explosive squash head, a type of ammunition, invented by Sir Charles Dennistoun Burney (1888–1968).
* 1941: The Fairbairn–Sykes fighting knife invented by William Ewart Fairbairn (1885–1960) and Eric A. Sykes (1883–1945).
* 1941–1942: The Bailey bridge – a type of portable, Prefabrication, pre-fabricated, truss bridge – invented by Donald Bailey (civil engineer), Donald Bailey (1901–1985). Field Marshal Montgomery emphasised the importance of the Bailey bridge in Britain winning the war.
* 1943: The bouncing bomb invented by Barnes Wallis (1887–1979).
* 1943: H2S radar (airborne radar to aid bomb targeting) invented by
* Before 1800: Method of copying images chemically to permanent media devised by Thomas Wedgwood (photographer), Thomas Wedgwood (1771–1805).
* 1838: The Stereoscope, a device for displaying three-dimensional images, invented by Charles Wheatstone (1802–1875).
* 1840: Calotype or ''Talbotype'' invented by William Fox Talbot (1800–1877).
* 1850s: The Collodion process, an early photographic process, invented by Frederick Scott Archer (1813–1857).
* 1850s: The Ambrotype invented by Frederick Scott Archer (1813–1857) and Peter Wickens Fry (1795–1860).
* 1861: The Collodion-albumen process, an early dry plate process, invented by Joseph Sidebotham (father of Joseph Watson Sidebotham).
* 1871: The dry plate process, the first economically successful and durable photographic medium, invented by Richard Leach Maddox (1816–1902).
* 1878: ''The Horse in Motion'' or ''Sallie Gardner at a Gallop'', a precursor to the development of Film, motion pictures, created by Eadweard Muybridge (1830–1904).
* 1879: The Zoopraxiscope, which may be considered the first movie projector, created by Eadweard Muybridge (1830–1904).
* 1880s: Method of intensifying Photographic plate, plates with Mercury(II) iodide, mercuric iodide devised by B. J. Edwards (1838–1914); Edwards pioneered also the construction and design of instantaneous Shutter (photography), shutters.
* 1887: Celluloid Film, motion pictures created by William Friese-Greene (1855–1921).
* 1906: Kinemacolor, the first successful colour motion picture process, invented by George Albert Smith (inventor), George Albert Smith (1864–1959).
* 1475: First book printed in the English language, ''Recuyell of the Historyes of Troye'', by William Caxton (c. 1422–c. 1491); eighteen copies survive.
* 1534: Cambridge University Press granted letters patent by Henry VIII; continuous operation since makes it the world's oldest publisher and printer.
* 1535: First complete printed translation of the Bible into English produced by Myles Coverdale (1488–1569).
* 1665: ''Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, Philosophical Transactions'', the first journal exclusively devoted to science, established by the Royal Society of London; it is also the world's longest-running scientific journal.
* British Raj period: the first definite map of India drawn by English cartographers.
* Mid-19th century: First noted journal club by English surgeon James Paget, Sir James Paget (1814–1899); recalling in his memoirs time spent at St. 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 the Scientific journal, journals."
* 1893: Benjamin Daydon Jackson prepares the first volume of ''Index Kewensis'', first publication aiming to register all botanical names for seed plants at the rank of species and Genus, genera.
* 1600: Recognition that the earth was a giant magnet, by William Gilbert (1544–1603) in his six-book work ''De Magnete''; ''De Magnete'' was known all over Europe, and was almost certainly an influence on Galileo Galilei, Galileo.
* 1660: Hooke's Law (equation describing elasticity) proposed by
*Anglo-Saxon times: Anglo-Saxon goldsmiths used a process similar to Cementation (metallurgy), cementation; as evidenced by the Staffordshire hoard.
*1665: Correct theory of combustion first outlined in ''Micrographia'' by 
*1807: Potassium isolated by Sir Humphry Davy (1778–1829).
*1808: Calcium isolated by Sir Humphry Davy (1778–1829).
*1808: Strontium isolated by Sir Humphry Davy (1778–1829).
*1808: Barium isolated by Sir Humphry Davy (1778–1829).
*1808: Magnesium isolated by Sir Humphry Davy (1778–1829).
*1808: Boron isolated by Sir Humphry Davy (1778–1829).
*1810: Elemental nature of Chlorine discovered by Sir Humphry Davy (1778–1829).
*1813: Elemental nature of Iodine discovered by Sir Humphry Davy (1778–1829).
*1825: Benzene, the first known aromatic hydrocarbon, isolated and identified by
* 1665: Cell biology originated by
* 1630–1632: The slide rule invented by William Oughtred (1574–1660), developing on work by Edmund Gunter (1581–1626) and Edmund Wingate (1596–1656).
* 1631: The "x" symbol for multiplication and the abbreviations "sin" and "cos" for the sine and cosine functions devised by William Oughtred (1574–1660) in ''Clavis Mathematicae'' (The Key to Mathematics).
* 1631: The symbols for "is less than" and "is greater than", along with other innovations, devised in the posthumously published algebra text ''Artis Analyticae Praxis'' by Thomas Harriot (c. 1560–1621).
* 1687: Calculus developed by Sir Isaac Newton (1642–1726/7), as set out in his ''Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica, Principia Mathematica''.
* 1763 onwards: Key contributions made to the development of statistics by: Thomas Bayes (c. 1701–1761) (''Bayes' theorem''); Florence Nightingale (1820–1910) (''statistical graphics'');
* 1609: First drawing of the Moon through a telescope by Thomas Harriot (c. 1560 – 1621); Harriot achieved this on 26 July 1609: over four months before Galileo Galilei, Galileo.
* 1610: Sunspots discovered by Thomas Harriot (c. 1560–1621).
* 1668: Newtonian telescope invented by Sir Isaac Newton (1642–1727).
* 1705: Periodic comet, Periodicity of Halley's Comet determined by Edmond Halley (1656–1742).
* 1712–1717: The Planetarium created by French-born Briton John Theophilus Desaguliers (1683–1784).
* 1758: Achromatic doublet lens patented by John Dollond (1706–1761).
* 1781: Discovery of the planet Uranus by Sir William Herschel (1738–1822); Herschel also discovered the moons Titania (moon), Titania (1787), Oberon (moon), Oberon (1787), Enceladus (moon), Enceladus (1789), and Mimas (moon), Mimas (1789).
* 1783: Existence of black holes first proposed by John Michell (1724–1793); Michell was first to suggest that binary stars, double stars might be attracted to each other (1767), and he invented the torsion balance (before 1783).
* 1843: Existence and position of Neptune predicted, using only mathematics, by John Couch Adams (1819–1892).
* 1845: Nature of spiral galaxies discovered by William Parsons, 3rd Earl of Rosse (1800–1867).
* 1846: Discovery of Triton (moon), Triton by William Lassell (1799–1880); Lassell also discovered the moons Hyperion (moon), Hyperion (1848), Ariel (moon), Ariel (1851), and Umbriel (moon), Umbriel (1851).
* 1924: The Eddington limit – the natural limit to the luminosity of stars, or the radiation generated by accretion onto a compact object – discovered by Sir Arthur Stanley Eddington (1882–1944).
* 1930s–1950s: Important contributions to the development of radio astronomy made by Bernard Lovell (1913–2012).
* 1946–1954: Pioneering theories of Nucleosynthesis (the formation of chemical elements in stars and supernova) proposed by Sir Fred Hoyle (1915–2001); in 1949, Hoyle coined the term "Big Bang".
* 1966 onwards: Important contributions to cosmology and (from 1973)quantum gravity made by Stephen Hawking (born 1942), especially in the context of black holes.
* 1967: Pulsars discovered by English Radio astronomy, radio astronomer Antony Hewish (born 1924) and one of his graduate students, Northern Irish Jocelyn Bell Burnell, Jocelyn Bell.
* Late 1960s / early 1970s: Aperture synthesis, used for accurate location and imaging of weak radio sources in the field of radio astronomy, developed by Martin Ryle (1918–1984) and Antony Hewish (born 1924).
* Before 1299: Bowls or ''lawn bowls'' can be traced to 13th-century England. The world's oldest surviving bowling green is Southampton Old Bowling Green, first used in 1299.
* Late 15th century: Rounders developed from an older English game known as stoolball.
* Early 16th century: Modern boxing developed from bare-knuckle boxing or ''prizefighting'', a resurfacing of Ancient Greek boxing in England. The first recorded boxing match took place on 6 January 1681 in England, arranged by Christopher Monck, 2nd Duke of Albemarle (1653–1688).
* 1519: World's oldest sporting competition still running, the Kiplingcotes Derby horse-race, established; it has run annually since without a break.
* 1530s: Origin of real tennis played with Tennis racket, rackets, popularised by Henry VIII of England, Henry VIII.
* 1598: The earliest definite reference to cricket; the sport may arguably be traced further back to 1301 with written evidence of a game known as ''creag'' played by Edward II of England, Prince Edward, son of Edward I of England, Edward I (Longshanks).
* Aunt Sally, early 17th century.
* After 1660: Thoroughbred horseracing developed in 17th- and 18th-century England; royal support from Charles II of England, Charles II, a keen racegoer and owner, made horse-racing popular with the public.
* 1673: Oldest non-equine competition in England, the Scorton Arrow archery tournament, established in Scorton, North Yorkshire, Scorton, Yorkshire.
* 1715: Oldest Rowing (sport), rowing race in the world, Doggett's Coat and Badge established; the race on the River Thames has been held every year since 1715.
* 1744: Earliest description of baseball in ''A Little Pretty Pocket-Book'' by John Newbery (1713–1767); the first ''recorded game'' of "Bass-Ball" took place in 1749 in Surrey. William Bray (antiquary), William Bray (1736–1832) recorded a game of baseball on Easter Monday, 1755 in Guildford, Surrey; the game is considered to have been taken across the Atlantic by English emigrants.
* Early 19th century: Modern field hockey developed in English public schools; the first club was established in 1849 in Blackheath, London.
* 1820s: Ice hockey, a variant of field 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 his Arctic expeditions: "The game of hockey played on the ice was the morning sport" on Great Bear Lake.
* 1823 or 1824: Invention of Rugby football credited to William Webb Ellis (1806–1872).
* 1850: The format of the modern Olympic Games inspired by William Penny Brookes (1809–1895); see also the Cotswold Olimpick Games.
* c. 1850: A bowling machine for cricket named the Catapulta (a predecessor of the pitching machine) invented by Nicholas Felix, Nicholas "Felix" Wanostrocht (1804–1876).
* 1857: Sheffield F.C. formed by former public school pupils, making it the world's first and oldest Association football club, as acknowledged by The Football Association and FIFA.Encyclopedia of British Football by Richard Cox et al., Routledge, 2002 page 5
* 1867: Coconut shy in Kingston, Surrey.
* 1859–1865: Lawn tennis invented by Harry Gem (1819–1881) and Augurio Perera, a Spanish-born merchant and sportsman based in England.
* 1874–1875: Snooker invented by the British Army in India.
* 1874: Formal codification of the rules of modern Polo established by the Hurlingham Polo Association; polo had been introduced to England in 1834 by the 10th Hussars at Aldershot, 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.
* 1880 onwards: Modern rock climbing developed by Walter Parry Haskett Smith (1859–1946), so-called "father of rock climbing".
* 1880s: Table tennis or ''ping-pong'' originated in Victorian era, Victorian England as an indoor version of tennis; it was developed and played by the upper class as an after-dinner parlour game.
* 1888: Tiddlywinks patent application by London bank clerk Joseph Assheton Fincher (1863–1900); tiddlywinks originated as an adult parlour game in Victorian era, Victorian England.
* 1893–1897: Netball developed from early versions of women's basketball at Martina Bergman-Österberg, Madame Österberg's College in England.
* 1895: Rugby league created with the establishment of the Rugby Football League, Northern Rugby Football Union (NRFU) as a breakaway faction of England's Rugby Football Union (RFU).
* 1896: The dartboard-layout used in the game and professional competitive sport of Darts was devised by Lancashire carpenter Brian Gamlin (c. 1852–1903); Gamlin died before he could patent his idea.
* 1899: Mixed martial arts, Mixed martial art (MMA) Bartitsu invented by Edward William Barton-Wright (1860–1951).
* 1948: The first Paralympic games competition, originally the Stoke Mandeville Games, created in England by German-born (from 1945 Naturalization, naturalised) British neurologist Ludwig Guttmann (1899–1980).
* 1954: Sir Roger Bannister (1929–2018) ran the first sub-four-minute mile on 6 May 1954.
* 1979: First modern Bungee jumping, bungee jumps made from the Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol by members of the Oxford University Dangerous Sports Club.
* 1799: Concept of the modern aeroplane as a Fixed-wing aircraft, fixed-wing flying machine with separate systems for lift, propulsion, and control set forth by Sir 
* 1929: Turbojet, Turbojet engine single-handedly invented by Sir Frank Whittle (1907–1996).
* 1949: First commercial jet airliner, the de Havilland Comet, designed, developed and manufactured by de Havilland.
* 1954: First aircraft capable of supercruise, the English Electric Lightning, designed, developed and manufactured by English Electric.
* 1959: Aerospace engineer John Hodge (engineer), John Hodge (1929–2021) migrated to become part of NASA's Space Task Group, which was responsible for America's manned space programme, Project Mercury.
* 1960: VTOL (Vertical Take-Off and Landing) aircraft (most famously the Harrier jump jet, Harrier) invented by Gordon Lewis (engineer), Gordon Lewis (1924–2010), Ralph Hooper (1926–2022), Stanley Hooker (1907–1984) and Sydney Camm (1893–1966); the project developed on ideas by Frenchman Michel Wibault.
*1965: Concorde The world's first supersonic commercial aircraft (A joint development between British Airways, Air France) invented by James Arnot Hamilton, Sir James Hamilton (1923–2012); the project was manufactured by British Aircraft Corporation, BAC, Sud Aviation. It took Concorde three hours, fifteen minutes to fly from Heathrow Airport, London Heathrow to John F. Kennedy International Airport, New York JFK.
* 1802: First full-scale railway steam locomotive built by Richard Trevithick (1771–1833). 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 Londoner
* 1842: The Edmondson railway ticket invented by Thomas Edmondson (1792–1851); British Rail used Edmondson tickets until February 1990.
* 1852 onwards: Numerous inventions for railways by John Ramsbottom (engineer), John Ramsbottom (1814–1897), including: the split piston ring (1852), the Ramsbottom safety valve (1855), the Displacement lubricator (1860), and the Track pan, water trough (1860).
* 1863: Opening of the world's oldest underground railway, the London Underground, a.k.a. the Tube; the Tube is the oldest rapid transit system, and it was the first underground railway to operate electric locomotive, electric trains.
* Late 1940s: Maglev, the use of magnetic levitation to move vehicles without touching the ground, invented by Eric Laithwaite (1921–1997).
* 1981: The Advanced Passenger Train (APT), an experimental High-speed rail, high-speed train that pioneered tilting train, tilting, introduced by British Rail.
* 1804: The seat belt invented by Sir
* 1578: The first submersible (a small, submarine-like vehicle) of whose construction there exists reliable information designed by Englishman William Bourne (mathematician), William Bourne (c. 1535–1582) in his book ''Inventions or Devises''; Dutchman Cornelius Drebbel put Bourne's concept into action in 1620.
* 1691: A diving 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 by Edmond Halley, Edmund Halley (1656–1742), best known for computing the orbit of Halley's Comet.
* c. 1730: The Octant (instrument), octant invented by English mathematician John Hadley (1682–1744); American optician Thomas Godfrey (inventor), Thomas Godfrey developed the instrument independently at approximately the same time.
* 1743: The "Whirling Speculum", a device used to locate the horizon in foggy or misty conditions, invented by John Serson (died 1744); Serson's Speculum can be seen as a precursor to the gyroscope.
* 1757: First Reflecting instrument, sextant made by John Bird (astronomer), John Bird (1709–1776), adapting the principle of John Hadley, Hadley's Octant (instrument), octant.
* 1785: The Lifeboat (rescue), lifeboat invented and patented by Lionel 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: The Transit (ship), Transit, a type of sailing vessel with a remarkable turn of speed, patented by Richard Hall Gower (1768–1833).
* 1835: The screw propeller invented and patented by Francis Pettit Smith (1808–1874).
* 1843: Launch of the SS Great Britain – the first steam-powered, screw propeller-driven passenger liner with an iron hull; designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel (1806–1859), it was at the time the largest ship afloat.
* 1876: Plimsoll Line devised by Samuel Plimsoll (1824–1898).
* 1878: First commercially successful closed-circuit Scuba diving, scuba designed and built by Henry Fleuss (1851–1932), a pioneer in the field of diving equipment.
* 1878–1879: Two early Victorian era, Victorian submarines, Resurgam I and Resurgam II, designed and built by George Garrett (inventor), George Garrett (1852–1902).
* 1894: The first steam turbine powered steamship, Turbinia (easily the fastest ship in the world at the time), designed by Anglo-Irish engineer Sir
* 1286: First recorded use of the Halifax Gibbet, an early guillotine.
* Early 17th century: The closely cut Lawn, "English" lawn created in the Jacobean era, Jacobean epoch of History of gardening, gardening, as the garden and the lawn became places created first as walkways and social areas. The English lawn became a symbol of status of the aristocracy and gentry; it showed that the owner could afford to keep land that was not being used for a building or for food production.
* 1668: Earliest concept of a metric system proposed by John Wilkins (1614–1672) in ''An Essay towards a Real Character and a Philosophical Language''.
* 1706: World's first life insurance company, the Amicable Society for a Perpetual Assurance Office, Amicable Society, founded by William Talbot (bishop), William Talbot (1658–1730) and Sir Allen baronets, Thomas Allen, 2nd Baronet (c. 1648–1730).
* 1719: Oldest music-based arts festival, festival, the Three Choirs Festival, established.
* 1725: The modern History of the kilt, kilt, associated since the 19th century with Scottish culture, arguably invented by English Quakers, Quaker Thomas Rawlinson (industrialist), Thomas Rawlinson (dates not known).
* c. 1760: The jigsaw puzzle invented and commercialised by cartographer John Spilsbury (cartographer), John Spilsbury (1739–1769).
* 1767: The Carbonation, carbonated soft drink invented by Joseph Priestley (1733–1804).
* 1768–1770: The modern circus invented by Philip Astley (1742–1814) in Astley's Amphitheatre on Westminster Bridge Road in Lambeth.
* c. 1770–1780: The lorgnette (a pair of Glasses, spectacles with a handle, used to hold them in place) invented by George Adams (scientist, died 1773), George Adams the elder (c. 1709–1773) and subsequently illustrated in a work by his son George Adams (scientist, died 1795), George Adams the younger, ''An Essay on Vision, briefly explaining the fabric of the eye'' (1789).
* 1772: Oldest arts festival established in Norwich 1772.
* 1787: First glee club founded in Harrow School.
* 1797: The top hat arguably invented by English haberdasher John Hetherington (dates not known).
* 1798: Consequences of population growth identified by Thomas Robert Malthus (1766–1834) in ''An Essay on the Principle of Population''.
* 1798: Oldest police force in continuous operation, the Marine Police Force, formed by English seafarer John Harriott (sailor), John Harriott (1745–1817) and Scot Patrick Colquhoun; it merged with the nascentMetropolitan Police Service in 1839.
* 18th century – 19th century: The history of comics developed with innovations by William 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.
* 1811: The graphic telescope, a camera lucida, drawing aid with the power of a telescope, invented by water-colour painter Cornelius Varley (1781–1873).
* 1821: World's first modern nature reserve established by naturalist and explorer Charles Waterton (1782–1965); Waterton was described by David 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".
* 1824: Rubber balloon invented by
co-operative principles
on which co-ops around the world operate to this day. * 1844: YMCA (Young Men's Christian Association) founded in London by Sir George Williams (YMCA), George Williams (1821–1905), with the aim of putting Christian values into practice. * 1846: The Christmas 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. * 1851: Prime meridian established at Greenwich by Sir George Biddell Airy (1801–1892), Astronomer Royal from 1835 to 1881; Airy's line, the fourth Prime meridian (Greenwich), Greenwich Meridian, became the definitive, internationally recognised line in 1884.
* 1851: Revolutionary Modular design, modular, Prefabrication, prefabricated design, and use of Architectural glass, glass utilised in the building of the Crystal Palace of the Great Exhibition by Joseph Paxton (1803–1865); after the exhibition, the Crystal Palace was moved to Sydenham, London, Sydenham where it was destroyed in a fire in 1936.
* 1851: Steel-ribbed umbrella developed by Samuel Fox (industrialist), Samuel Fox (1815–1887).
* 1860: Linoleum invented by Frederick Walton (1834–1928).
* 1865: The Salvation Army, a Christian denomination, Christian denominational church and international charitable organization, charitable organisation, founded by Methodist minister (Christianity), minister William Booth (1829–1912).
* 1866: The introduction, planting, cultivation and manufacturing of Ceylon tea in the British Crown colony of Ceylon, now Sri 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."
* 1868: Erection of first mounted dinosaur skeleton, Hadrosaurus Foulkii and introduction of the universal standard for all future dinosaur displays by English artist Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins in concert with Dr Joseph Leidy and Edward Drinker Cope. Displayed at The Academy of Natural Sciences
* 1870s: One precursor (among others) of the modern gas mask constructed by physicist John Tyndall (1820–1893).
* 1897: Plasticine invented by art teacher William Harbutt (1844–1921).
* 1901: Scale model, Model construction system Meccano invented by Frank Hornby (1863–1936).
* 1902: First large-scale programme of international scholarships, the Rhodes Scholarship, created by Cecil John Rhodes (1853–1902).
* 1907: The Scouting, scout movement created by Robert Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell, Lord Baden-Powell (1857–1941), on finding that his 1899 Military education and training, military training manual ''Aids to Scouting'' was being used by teachers and youth organisations.
*1908: The reserve forest which would become the Kaziranga National Park founded by George Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston, Lord Curzon of Kedleston to protect the dwindling species of rhinoceros.
* 1913: The crossword puzzle invented by
English inventions and discoveries are objects, processes or techniques invented, innovated or discovered, partially or entirely, in
* 1627: Publication of first experiments in Water desalination and
*
* 1759: The ''Derby Rib'' machine (for stocking manufacture) invented by Jedediah Strutt (1726–1797).
* 1764: The spinning jenny invented by James Hargreaves (c. 1720–1778).
* 1767:
* 1840: Uniform Penny Post and
.
* 1992: Clockwork radio invented by England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...
by a person from England. Often, things discovered 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%.
The following is a list of inventions, innovations or discoveries known or generally recognised to be English.
Agriculture
* 1627: Publication of first experiments in Water desalination and filtration
Filtration is a physical separation process that separates solid matter and fluid from a mixture using a ''filter medium'' that has a complex structure through which only the fluid can pass. Solid particles that cannot pass through the filter ...
by Sir Francis Bacon
Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Alban (; 22 January 1561 – 9 April 1626), also known as Lord Verulam, was an English philosopher and statesman who served as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England. Bacon led the advancement of both ...
(1561–1626).
* 1701: Seed drill improved by Jethro Tull (1674–1741).
*18th century: of the horse-drawn hoe
Hoe or HOE may refer to:
* Hoe (food), a Korean dish of raw fish
* Hoe (letter), a Georgian letter
* Hoe (tool), a hand tool used in gardening and farming
** Hoe-farming, a term for primitive forms of agriculture
* Backhoe, a piece of excavating ...
and scarifier by Jethro Tull
* 1780s: Selective breeding
Selective breeding (also called artificial selection) is the process by which humans use animal breeding and plant breeding to selectively develop particular phenotypic traits (characteristics) by choosing which typically animal or plant ...
and artificial selection
Selective breeding (also called artificial selection) is the process by which humans use animal breeding and plant breeding to selectively develop particular phenotypic traits (characteristics) by choosing which typically animal or plant ma ...
pioneered by Robert Bakewell (1725–1795).
* 1842: Superphosphate or chemical fertilizer developed by John Bennet Lawes (1814–1900).
* 1850s: Steam
Steam is a substance containing water in the gas phase, and sometimes also an aerosol of liquid water droplets, or air. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporizatio ...
-driven plough
A plough or plow ( US; both ) is a farm tool for loosening or turning the soil before sowing seed or planting. Ploughs were traditionally drawn by oxen and horses, but in modern farms are drawn by tractors. A plough may have a wooden, iron or ...
ing engine invented by John Fowler (1826–1864).
* 1901: First commercially successful light farm-tractor
A tractor is an engineering vehicle specifically designed to deliver a high tractive effort (or torque) at slow speeds, for the purposes of hauling a trailer or machinery such as that used in agriculture, mining or construction. Most commo ...
invented by Dan Albone (1860–1906).
* 1930s onwards: Developments in dairy farming
Dairy farming is a class of agriculture for long-term production of milk, which is processed (either on the farm or at a dairy plant, either of which may be called a dairy) for eventual sale of a dairy product. Dairy farming has a history t ...
systems pioneered by Rex Paterson (1902–1978).
Ceramics
* 1748: Fineporcelain
Porcelain () is a ceramic material made by heating substances, generally including materials such as kaolinite, in a kiln to temperatures between . The strength and translucence of porcelain, relative to other types of pottery, arises main ...
developed by Thomas Frye (c. 1710–1762), of Bow porcelain factory, London. Cf. Frye's rivals at Chelsea porcelain factory.
* 1770s: Jasperware developed by Josiah Wedgwood
Josiah Wedgwood (12 July 1730 – 3 January 1795) was an English potter, entrepreneur and abolitionist. Founding the Wedgwood company in 1759, he developed improved pottery bodies by systematic experimentation, and was the leader in the indus ...
(1730–1795).
* 1789–1793: Bone china
Bone china is a type of ceramic that is composed of bone ash, feldspathic material, and kaolin. It has been defined as "ware with a translucent body" containing a minimum of 30% of phosphate derived from animal bone and calculated calcium phos ...
created by Josiah Spode
Josiah Spode (23 March 1733 – 18 August 1797) was an English potter and the founder of the English Spode pottery works which became famous for the high quality of its wares. He is often credited with the establishment of blue underglaze tran ...
(1733–1797).
* 1813: Ironstone china invented by Charles James Mason (1791–1856).
Clock making
* Anglo-Saxon
The Anglo-Saxons were a cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo-Saxons happened wit ...
times: type of candle clock
A candle clock is a thin candle with consistently spaced marking that, when burned, indicates the passage of periods of time. While no longer used today, candle clocks provided an effective way to tell time indoors, at night, or on a cloudy day.
...
invented by Alfred the Great
Alfred the Great (alt. Ælfred 848/849 – 26 October 899) was King of the West Saxons from 871 to 886, and King of the Anglo-Saxons from 886 until his death in 899. He was the youngest son of King Æthelwulf and his first wife Osburh, who bo ...
(849–899).
* c. 1657: Anchor escapement probably invented by Robert Hooke
Robert Hooke FRS (; 18 July 16353 March 1703) was an English polymath active as a scientist, natural philosopher and architect, who is credited to be one of two scientists to discover microorganisms in 1665 using a compound microscope that ...
(1635–1703).
* c. 1657: Balance spring
A balance spring, or hairspring, is a spring attached to the balance wheel in mechanical timepieces. It causes the balance wheel to oscillate with a resonant frequency when the timepiece is running, which controls the speed at which the wheels of ...
added to balance wheel by Robert Hooke
Robert Hooke FRS (; 18 July 16353 March 1703) was an English polymath active as a scientist, natural philosopher and architect, who is credited to be one of two scientists to discover microorganisms in 1665 using a compound microscope that ...
(1635–1703).
* c. 1722: Grasshopper escapement invented by John Harrison
John Harrison ( – 24 March 1776) was a self-educated English carpenter and clockmaker who invented the marine chronometer, a long-sought-after device for solving the problem of calculating longitude while at sea.
Harrison's solution revo ...
(1693–1776); Harrison created the H1, H2, H3 & H4 watches (to solve the longitude
Longitude (, ) is a geographic coordinate that specifies the east– west position of a point on the surface of the Earth, or another celestial body. It is an angular measurement, usually expressed in degrees and denoted by the Greek let ...
measurement problem).
* c. 1726: Gridiron pendulum invented by John Harrison
John Harrison ( – 24 March 1776) was a self-educated English carpenter and clockmaker who invented the marine chronometer, a long-sought-after device for solving the problem of calculating longitude while at sea.
Harrison's solution revo ...
(1693–1776).
* c. 1755: Lever escapement, the greatest single improvement ever applied to pocket watch
A pocket watch (or pocketwatch) is a watch that is made to be carried in a pocket, as opposed to a wristwatch, which is strapped to the wrist.
They were the most common type of watch from their development in the 16th century until wristwa ...
es, invented by Thomas Mudge (1715–1794).
* 1761: First true Marine chronometer
A marine chronometer is a precision timepiece that is carried on a ship and employed in the determination of the ship's position by celestial navigation. It is used to determine longitude by comparing Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), or in the mode ...
perfected by John Harrison
John Harrison ( – 24 March 1776) was a self-educated English carpenter and clockmaker who invented the marine chronometer, a long-sought-after device for solving the problem of calculating longitude while at sea.
Harrison's solution revo ...
(1693–1776).
* 1923: Self-winding watch invented by John Harwood (1893–1964).
* 1955: First accurate atomic clock
An atomic clock is a clock that measures time by monitoring the resonant frequency of atoms. It is based on atoms having different energy levels. Electron states in an atom are associated with different energy levels, and in transitions betwe ...
invented by Louis Essen
Louis Essen FRS O.B.E. (6 September 1908 – 24 August 1997) was an English physicist whose most notable achievements were in the precise measurement of time and the determination of the speed of light. He was a critic of Albert Einstein' ...
(1908–1997).
* 1976: Coaxial escapement mechanism invented by George Daniels (1926–2011).
Clothing manufacturing
* 1589: Thestocking frame
A stocking frame was a mechanical knitting machine used in the textiles industry. It was invented by William Lee of Calverton near Nottingham in 1589. Its use, known traditionally as framework knitting, was the first major stage in the mechanis ...
, a mechanical knitting machine
A knitting machine is a device used to create knitted fabrics in a semi or fully automated fashion. There are numerous types of knitting machines, ranging from simple spool or board templates with no moving parts to highly complex mechanisms c ...
used in the textiles
Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not the ...
industry, invented by William Lee (1563–1614).
* 1733: The flying shuttle
The flying shuttle was one of the key developments in the industrialization of weaving during the early Industrial Revolution. It allowed a single weaver to weave much wider fabrics, and it could be mechanized, allowing for automatic machine l ...
, a key development in the industrialization
Industrialisation ( alternatively spelled industrialization) is the period of social and economic change that transforms a human group from an agrarian society into an industrial society. This involves an extensive re-organisation of an econo ...
of weaving
Weaving is a method of textile production in which two distinct sets of yarns or threads are interlaced at right angles to form a fabric or cloth. Other methods are knitting, crocheting, felting, and braiding or plaiting. The longitudinal ...
during the early Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...
, invented by John Kay of Walmersley
Walmersley is a suburban village in the Metropolitan Borough of Bury, Greater Manchester, England.
History
Historically in Lancashire, the name Walmersley is said to be derived from Old English, and translates as Waldmer's wood, or clearin ...
(1704-c. 1779).
* 1759: The ''Derby Rib'' machine (for stocking manufacture) invented by Jedediah Strutt (1726–1797).
* 1764: The spinning jenny invented by James Hargreaves (c. 1720–1778).
* 1767: Spinning frame
The spinning frame is an Industrial Revolution invention for spinning thread or yarn from fibres such as wool or cotton in a mechanized way. It was developed in 18th-century Britain by Richard Arkwright and John Kay.
Historical context
In 1 ...
invented by John Kay of Warrington
Warrington () is a town and unparished area in the borough of the same name in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the banks of the River Mersey. It is east of Liverpool, and west of Manchester. The population in 2019 was estimat ...
.
* 1769: The water frame
The water frame is a spinning frame that is powered by a water-wheel. Water frames in general have existed since Ancient Egypt times. Richard Arkwright, who patented the technology in 1769, designed a model for the production of cotton thread; ...
, a water-powered spinning frame
The spinning frame is an Industrial Revolution invention for spinning thread or yarn from fibres such as wool or cotton in a mechanized way. It was developed in 18th-century Britain by Richard Arkwright and John Kay.
Historical context
In 1 ...
, developed by Richard Arkwright
Sir Richard Arkwright (23 December 1732 – 3 August 1792) was an English inventor and a leading entrepreneur during the early Industrial Revolution. He is credited as the driving force behind the development of the spinning frame, known as ...
(1732–1792).
* 1775–1779: Spinning mule invented by Samuel Crompton (1753–1827).
* 1784: Power loom
A power loom is a mechanized loom, and was one of the key developments in the industrialization of weaving during the early Industrial Revolution. The first power loom was designed in 1786 by Edmund Cartwright and first built that same year. ...
invented by Edmund Cartwright (1743–1823).
* 1790: Sewing machine
A sewing machine is a machine used to sew fabric and materials together with Thread (yarn), thread. Sewing machines were invented during the first Industrial Revolution to decrease the amount of manual sewing work performed in clothing companies. ...
invented by Thomas Saint.
* 1808: The bobbinet, a development on the warp-loom
A loom is a device used to weave cloth and tapestry. The basic purpose of any loom is to hold the warp threads under tension to facilitate the interweaving of the weft threads. The precise shape of the loom and its mechanics may vary, but t ...
, invented by John Heathcoat
John Heathcoat (7 August 1783 – 18 January 1861) was an English inventor from Duffield, Derbyshire. During his apprenticeship he made an improvement to the warp-loom, so as to produce mitts of a lace-like appearance. He set up his own busine ...
(1783–1861).
* 1856: Mauveine
Mauveine, also known as aniline purple and Perkin's mauve, was one of the first synthetic dyes. It was discovered serendipitously by William Henry Perkin in 1856 while he was attempting to synthesise the phytochemical quinine for the treatment of ...
, the first synthetic organic dye, discovered by William Henry Perkin
Sir William Henry Perkin (12 March 1838 – 14 July 1907) was a British chemist and entrepreneur best known for his serendipitous discovery of the first commercial synthetic organic dye, mauveine, made from aniline. Though he failed in trying ...
(1838–1907).
* 1941: Polyester
Polyester is a category of polymers that contain the ester functional group in every repeat unit of their main chain. As a specific material, it most commonly refers to a type called polyethylene terephthalate (PET). Polyesters include natura ...
invented by John Rex Whinfield
John Rex Whinfield CBE (16 February 1901 in Sutton, Surrey, England – 6 July 1966 in Dorking, Surrey) was a British chemist. Together with James Tennant Dickson, Whinfield investigated polyesters and produced and patented the first polyester ...
(1901–1966).
Communications
* Pre-1565: Thepencil
A pencil () is a writing or drawing implement with a solid pigment core in a protective casing that reduces the risk of core breakage, and keeps it from marking the user's hand.
Pencils create marks by physical abrasion, leaving a tra ...
invented in Seathwaite, Borrowdale
Borrowdale is a valley and civil parish in the English Lake District in the Borough of Allerdale in Cumbria, England. It lies within the historic county boundaries of Cumberland. It is sometimes referred to as ''Cumberland Borrowdale'' ...
, Cumbria
Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. ...
, using Grey Knotts
Grey Knotts is a fell in the English Lake District. It is situated one kilometre south of the B5289 road as it crosses the Honister Pass. It is well seen from mid-Borrowdale as it rises above Seatoller. Grey Knotts reaches a height of 697 met ...
graphite
Graphite () is a crystalline form of the element carbon. It consists of stacked layers of graphene. Graphite occurs naturally and is the most stable form of carbon under standard conditions. Synthetic and natural graphite are consumed on la ...
.
* 1588: Modern shorthand
Shorthand is an abbreviated symbolic writing method that increases speed and brevity of writing as compared to longhand, a more common method of writing a language. The process of writing in shorthand is called stenography, from the Greek ''s ...
invented by Timothy Bright
Timothie Bright, M.D. (1551?–1615) was an Early Modern English physician and clergyman, the inventor of modern shorthand.
Early life
Bright was born in or about 1551, probably in the neighbourhood of Sheffield. He matriculated as a sizar at Tr ...
(1551?–1615).
* 1661: The postmark (called the "Bishop Mark") introduced by English Postmaster General
A Postmaster General, in Anglosphere countries, is the chief executive officer of the postal service of that country, a ministerial office responsible for overseeing all other postmasters. The practice of having a government official responsib ...
Henry Bishop (1611–1691/2).
* 1667: Tin can telephone, a device that conveyed sounds over an extended wire by mechanical vibrations, invented by Robert Hooke
Robert Hooke FRS (; 18 July 16353 March 1703) was an English polymath active as a scientist, natural philosopher and architect, who is credited to be one of two scientists to discover microorganisms in 1665 using a compound microscope that ...
(1635–1703).
* 1714: Patent for an apparatus regarded as the first typewriter
A typewriter is a mechanical or electromechanical machine for typing characters. Typically, a typewriter has an array of keys, and each one causes a different single character to be produced on paper by striking an inked ribbon selectivel ...
granted to Henry Mill
Henry Mill (c. 1683–1771) was an English inventor who patented the first typewriter in 1714. He worked as a waterworks engineer for the New River Company, and submitted two patents during his lifetime. One was for a coach spring, while the o ...
(c. 1683–1771).
* 18th century: The Valentine's card first popularised.
* 1822: The mechanical pencil patented by Sampson Mordan (1790–1843) and John Isaac Hawkins (1772–1855).
* 1831: Electromagnetic induction
Electromagnetic or magnetic induction is the production of an electromotive force (emf) across an electrical conductor in a changing magnetic field.
Michael Faraday is generally credited with the discovery of induction in 1831, and James Cle ...
& Faraday's law of induction
Faraday's law of induction (briefly, Faraday's law) is a basic law of electromagnetism predicting how a magnetic field will interact with an electric circuit to produce an electromotive force (emf)—a phenomenon known as electromagnetic in ...
. Began as a series of experiments by Michael Faraday
Michael Faraday (; 22 September 1791 – 25 August 1867) was an English scientist who contributed to the study of electromagnetism and electrochemistry. His main discoveries include the principles underlying electromagnetic inducti ...
(1791–1867); later became some of the first experiments in the discovery of radio waves and the development of radio
Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a tr ...
.
* 1837: The first ''commercially'' successful electric telegraph developed by Sir Charles Wheatstone (1802–1875) and Sir William Fothergill Cooke
Sir William Fothergill Cooke (4 May 1806 – 25 June 1879) was an English inventor. He was, with Charles Wheatstone, the co-inventor of the Cooke-Wheatstone electrical telegraph, which was patented in May 1837. Together with John Ricardo he f ...
(1806–1879).
* 1837: Pitman Shorthand
Pitman shorthand is a system of shorthand for the English language developed by Englishman Sir Isaac Pitman (1813–1897), who first presented it in 1837. Like most systems of shorthand, it is a phonetic system; the symbols do not represent lett ...
invented by Isaac Pitman
Sir Isaac Pitman (4 January 1813 – 22 January 1897) was a teacher of the :English language who developed the most widely used system of shorthand, known now as Pitman shorthand. He first proposed this in ''Stenographic Soundhand'' in 183 ...
(1813–1897).
* 1840: Uniform Penny Post and postage stamp
A postage stamp is a small piece of paper issued by a post office, postal administration, or other authorized vendors to customers who pay postage (the cost involved in moving, insuring, or registering mail), who then affix the stamp to the f ...
invented by Sir Rowland Hill
Sir Rowland Hill, KCB, FRS (3 December 1795 – 27 August 1879) was an English teacher, inventor and social reformer. He campaigned for a comprehensive reform of the postal system, based on the concept of Uniform Penny Post and his solut ...
(1795–1879).
* 1843: The Christmas card
A Christmas card is a greeting card sent as part of the traditional celebration of Christmas in order to convey between people a range of sentiments related to Christmastide and the holiday season. Christmas cards are usually exchanged during ...
introduced commercially by Sir Henry Cole
Sir Henry Cole FRSA (15 July 1808 – 18 April 1882) was a British civil servant and inventor who facilitated many innovations in commerce and education in the 19th century in the United Kingdom. Cole is credited with devising the concept of ...
(1808–1882).
* 1873: Discovery of the photoconductivity of the element selenium
Selenium is a chemical element with the symbol Se and atomic number 34. It is a nonmetal (more rarely considered a metalloid) with properties that are intermediate between the elements above and below in the periodic table, sulfur and tellurium, ...
by Willoughby Smith (1828–1891). Smith's work led to the invention of photoelectric cells (solar panels
A solar cell panel, solar electric panel, photo-voltaic (PV) module, PV panel or solar panel is an assembly of photovoltaic solar cells mounted in a (usually rectangular) frame, and a neatly organised collection of PV panels is called a photo ...
), including those used in the earliest television
Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...
systems.
* 1879: The first radio
Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a tr ...
transmission, using a spark-gap transmitter
A spark-gap transmitter is an obsolete type of transmitter, radio transmitter which generates radio waves by means of an electric spark."Radio Transmitters, Early" in Spark-gap transmitters were the first type of radio transmitter, and were the m ...
(achieving a range of approximately 500 metres), made by David E. Hughes (1831–1900).
*1888: The world's first moving picture film produced by Louis Le Prince (1841 – vanished 16 September 1890) of '' Roundhay Garden'', ''Leeds Bridge
Leeds Bridge is a historic river crossing in Leeds, England. The present cast iron road bridge over the River Aire dates from 1870. It is Grade II listed.
History
The medieval town of Leeds centred on 13th century burgess building plots either ...
.''
* 1897: The world's first radio station
Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radio ...
was located at The Needles Batteries on the western tip of the Isle of Wight
The Isle of Wight ( ) is a county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the largest and second-most populous island of England. Referred to as 'The Island' by residents, the Is ...
; it was set up by Marconi.
* 1899: The world's first colour motion picture film produced by Edward Raymond Turner
Edward Raymond Turner (1873 – 9 March 1903) was a pioneering British inventor and cinematographer. He produced the earliest known colour motion picture film footage.
Biography
Turner was born in 1873 in Clevedon, North Somerset, UK. In late ...
(1873–1903).
* 1902: Proposition by Oliver Heaviside
Oliver Heaviside FRS (; 18 May 1850 – 3 February 1925) was an English self-taught mathematician and physicist who invented a new technique for solving differential equations (equivalent to the Laplace transform), independently develope ...
(1850–1925) of the existence of the Kennelly–Heaviside layer
The Heaviside layer, sometimes called the Kennelly–Heaviside layer, named after Arthur E. Kennelly and Oliver Heaviside, is a layer of ionised gas occurring roughly between 90km and 150 km (56 and 93 mi) above the ground — one ...
, a layer of ionised gas that reflects radio waves around the Earth's curvature.
* 1912: Development of radio communication
Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a trans ...
pioneered by William Eccles (1875–1966).
* 1914: The world's first automatic totalisator invented by English-born George Julius (1873–1946).
* 2 December 1922: Mechanical scanning device (a precursor to modern television
Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...
) demonstrated in Sorbonne, France by Englishman Edwin Belin.
* 1930: The Plessey
The Plessey Company plc was a British electronics, defence and telecommunications company. It originated in 1917, growing and diversifying into electronics. It expanded after World War II by acquisition of companies and formed overseas compan ...
company in England began manufacturing the Baird Televisor receiver: the first television receiver sold to the public.
* 1931: Stereophonic sound
Stereophonic sound, or more commonly stereo, is a method of sound reproduction that recreates a multi-directional, 3-dimensional audible perspective. This is usually achieved by using two independent audio channels through a configuration ...
or, more commonly, stereo invented at EMI in Hayes, Middlesex
Hayes is a town in west London, historically situated within the county of Middlesex, and now part of the London Borough of Hillingdon. The town's population, including its localities Hayes End, Harlington and Yeading, was recorded as 83,564 ...
by Alan Blumlein
Alan Dower Blumlein (29 June 1903 – 7 June 1942) was an English electronics engineer, notable for his many inventions in telecommunications, sound recording, stereophonic sound, television and radar. He received 128 patents and was considered o ...
(1903–1942).
* 1933: The 405-line television system (the first fully electronic television system used in regular broadcasting
Broadcasting is the distribution of audio or video content to a dispersed audience via any electronic mass communications medium, but typically one using the electromagnetic spectrum (radio waves), in a one-to-many model. Broadcasting began wi ...
) developed at EMI in Hayes, Middlesex
Hayes is a town in west London, historically situated within the county of Middlesex, and now part of the London Borough of Hillingdon. The town's population, including its localities Hayes End, Harlington and Yeading, was recorded as 83,564 ...
by Alan Blumlein
Alan Dower Blumlein (29 June 1903 – 7 June 1942) was an English electronics engineer, notable for his many inventions in telecommunications, sound recording, stereophonic sound, television and radar. He received 128 patents and was considered o ...
(1903–1942), under the supervision of Sir Isaac Shoenberg
Sir Isaac Shoenberg (1 March 1880 – 25 January 1963) was a British electronic engineer born in Belarus who was best known for his role in the history of television. He was the head of the EMI research team that developed the 405-line (Marconi-EM ...
.
* 1936: The world's first regular public broadcasts of high-definition television
Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...
began from Alexandra Palace
Alexandra Palace is a Grade II listed entertainment and sports venue in London, situated between Wood Green and Muswell Hill in the London Borough of Haringey. It is built on the site of Tottenham Wood and the later Tottenham Wood Farm. Origi ...
, North London
North London is the northern part of London, England, north of the River Thames. It extends from Clerkenwell and Finsbury, on the edge of the City of London financial district, to Greater London's boundary with Hertfordshire.
The term ''nor ...
by the BBC Television Service
BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1927. It produced television programmes from its own studios from 193 ...
.
* 1930s: Radar
Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance (''ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, Marine radar, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor v ...
pioneered at Bawdsey Manor
Bawdsey Manor stands at a prominent position at the mouth of the River Deben close to the village of Bawdsey in Suffolk, England, about northeast of London.
Built in 1886, it was enlarged in 1895 as the principal residence of Sir William C ...
by Scotsman Robert Watson-Watt
Sir Robert Alexander Watson Watt (13 April 1892 – 5 December 1973) was a Scottish pioneer of radio direction finding and radar technology.
Watt began his career in radio physics with a job at the Met Office, where he began looking for accura ...
(1892–1973) and Englishman Henry Tizard (1885–1939).
* 1945: The concept of geostationary satellites for the use of telecommunications
Telecommunication is the transmission of information by various types of technologies over wire, radio, optical, or other electromagnetic systems. It has its origin in the desire of humans for communication over a distance greater than that ...
relays popularised by Arthur C. Clarke
Sir Arthur Charles Clarke (16 December 191719 March 2008) was an English science-fiction writer, science writer, futurist, inventor, undersea explorer, and television series host.
He co-wrote the screenplay for the 1968 film '' 2001: A Spac ...
(1917–2008).
* 1964 onwards: Use of fibre optics in telecommunications
Telecommunication is the transmission of information by various types of technologies over wire, radio, optical, or other electromagnetic systems. It has its origin in the desire of humans for communication over a distance greater than that ...
pioneered by Englishman George Hockham (1938–2013) and Chinese-born Charles K. Kao.
* Late 1960s: Development of the long-lasting materials that made liquid crystal displays possible. Team headed by Sir Brynmor Jones; developed by Scotsman George Gray and Englishman Ken Harrison in conjunction with the Royal Radar Establishment and the University of Hull
, mottoeng = Bearing the Torch f learning, established = 1927 – University College Hull1954 – university status
, type = Public
, endowment = £18.8 million (2016)
, budget = £190 million ...
, who ultimately discovered the crystals used in LCDs.
* 1970: The MTV-1, the first near pocket-sized handheld television, developed by Sir Clive Sinclair
Sir Clive Marles Sinclair (30 July 1940 – 16 September 2021) was an English entrepreneur and inventor, best known for being a pioneer in the computing industry, and also as the founder of several companies that developed consumer electronic ...
(born 1940).
* 1973: First transmissions of the Teletext
A British Ceefax football index page from October 2009, showing the three-digit page numbers for a variety of football news stories
Teletext, or broadcast teletext, is a standard for displaying text and rudimentary graphics on suitably equipp ...
information service made by the British Broadcasting Corporation #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...Trevor Baylis
Trevor Graham Baylis (13 May 1937 – 5 March 2018) was an English inventor best known for the wind-up radio. The radio, instead of relying on batteries or external electrical source, is powered by the user winding a crank. This stores energy ...
(1937–2018).
* 3 December 1992: The world's first text
Text may refer to:
Written word
* Text (literary theory), any object that can be read, including:
**Religious text, a writing that a religious tradition considers to be sacred
**Text, a verse or passage from scripture used in expository preachin ...
/SMS
Short Message/Messaging Service, commonly abbreviated as SMS, is a text messaging service component of most telephone, Internet and mobile device systems. It uses standardized communication protocols that let mobile devices exchange short text ...
message ("Merry Christmas") sent over the Vodafone
Vodafone Group plc () is a British multinational telecommunications company. Its registered office and global headquarters are in Newbury, Berkshire, England. It predominantly operates services in Asia, Africa, Europe, and Oceania.
, Vod ...
GSM network by Neil Papworth (born 1969).
* 2016: Holographic TV device created by the BBC.
Computing
* 1822: The Difference Engine
A difference engine is an automatic mechanical calculator designed to tabulate polynomial functions. It was designed in the 1820s, and was first created by Charles Babbage. The name, the difference engine, is derived from the method of divide ...
, an automatic mechanical calculator
A mechanical calculator, or calculating machine, is a mechanical device used to perform the basic operations of arithmetic automatically, or (historically) a simulation such as an analog computer or a slide rule. Most mechanical calculators w ...
designed to tabulate polynomial
In mathematics, a polynomial is an expression consisting of indeterminates (also called variables) and coefficients, that involves only the operations of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and positive-integer powers of variables. An exampl ...
functions, proposed by Charles Babbage
Charles Babbage (; 26 December 1791 – 18 October 1871) was an English polymath. A mathematician, philosopher, inventor and mechanical engineer, Babbage originated the concept of a digital programmable computer.
Babbage is considered ...
(1791–1871).
* 1837: The Analytical Engine
The Analytical Engine was a proposed mechanical general-purpose computer designed by English mathematician and computer pioneer Charles Babbage. It was first described in 1837 as the successor to Babbage's difference engine, which was a desig ...
, a proposed mechanical general-purpose computer
A computer is a machine that can be programmed to Execution (computing), carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations (computation) automatically. Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic sets of operations known as C ...
, designed by Charles Babbage
Charles Babbage (; 26 December 1791 – 18 October 1871) was an English polymath. A mathematician, philosopher, inventor and mechanical engineer, Babbage originated the concept of a digital programmable computer.
Babbage is considered ...
(1791–1871).
* 1842: The person regarded as the first computer programmer
A computer programmer, sometimes referred to as a software developer, a software engineer, a programmer or a coder, is a person who creates computer programs — often for larger computer software.
A programmer is someone who writes/creates ...
was Ada Lovelace
Augusta Ada King, Countess of Lovelace (''née'' Byron; 10 December 1815 – 27 November 1852) was an English mathematician and writer, chiefly known for her work on Charles Babbage's proposed mechanical general-purpose computer, the An ...
(1815–1852), only legitimate child of the poet Byron
George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824), known simply as Lord Byron, was an English romantic poet and peer. He was one of the leading figures of the Romantic movement, and has been regarded as among the ...
and his wife Anne Isabella Milbanke, Baroness Wentworth.
* 1842: First programming language, the Analytical Engine
The Analytical Engine was a proposed mechanical general-purpose computer designed by English mathematician and computer pioneer Charles Babbage. It was first described in 1837 as the successor to Babbage's difference engine, which was a desig ...
order code, produced by Charles Babbage
Charles Babbage (; 26 December 1791 – 18 October 1871) was an English polymath. A mathematician, philosopher, inventor and mechanical engineer, Babbage originated the concept of a digital programmable computer.
Babbage is considered ...
(1791–1871) and Ada Lovelace
Augusta Ada King, Countess of Lovelace (''née'' Byron; 10 December 1815 – 27 November 1852) was an English mathematician and writer, chiefly known for her work on Charles Babbage's proposed mechanical general-purpose computer, the An ...
(1815–1852).
* 1854: Boolean algebra
In mathematics and mathematical logic, Boolean algebra is a branch of algebra. It differs from elementary algebra in two ways. First, the values of the variables are the truth values ''true'' and ''false'', usually denoted 1 and 0, whereas i ...
, the basis for digital logic, conceived by George Boole
George Boole (; 2 November 1815 – 8 December 1864) was a largely self-taught English mathematician, philosopher, and logician, most of whose short career was spent as the first professor of mathematics at Queen's College, Cork in ...
(1815–1864).
* 1912: Argo system
In Greek mythology the ''Argo'' (; in Greek: ) was a ship built with the help of the gods that Jason and the Argonauts sailed from Iolcos to Colchis to retrieve the Golden Fleece. The ship has gone on to be used as a motif in a variety of ...
, the world's first electrically powered mechanical analogue computer, invented by Arthur Pollen
Arthur Joseph Hungerford Pollen (13 September 1866 – 28 January 1937) was an English journalist, businessman, and commentator on naval affairs who devised a new computerised fire-control system for use on battleships prior to the First World W ...
(1866–1937).
* 1918: The flip-flop circuit, which became the basis of electronic memory (Random-access memory
Random-access memory (RAM; ) is a form of computer memory that can be read and changed in any order, typically used to store working data and machine code. A random-access memory device allows data items to be read or written in almost the ...
) in computers, invented by William Eccles (1875–1966) and F. W. Jordan (1882–?).
* 1936–1937: The Universal Turing machine invented by Alan Turing
Alan Mathison Turing (; 23 June 1912 – 7 June 1954) was an English mathematician, computer scientist, logician, cryptanalyst, philosopher, and theoretical biologist. Turing was highly influential in the development of theoretical ...
(1912–1954). The UTM is considered to be the origin of the stored programme computer used in 1946 for the "Electronic Computing Instrument" that now bears John von Neumann
John von Neumann (; hu, Neumann János Lajos, ; December 28, 1903 – February 8, 1957) was a Hungarian-American mathematician, physicist, computer scientist, engineer and polymath. He was regarded as having perhaps the widest c ...
's name: the Von Neumann architecture
The von Neumann architecture — also known as the von Neumann model or Princeton architecture — is a computer architecture based on a 1945 description by John von Neumann, and by others, in the '' First Draft of a Report on the EDVAC''. T ...
.
* 1939: The Bombe, a device used by the British to decipher German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
secret messages during World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
, invented by Alan Turing
Alan Mathison Turing (; 23 June 1912 – 7 June 1954) was an English mathematician, computer scientist, logician, cryptanalyst, philosopher, and theoretical biologist. Turing was highly influential in the development of theoretical ...
(1912–1954).
* 1943–1944: The Colossus computer
Colossus was a set of computers developed by British codebreakers in the years 1943–1945 to help in the cryptanalysis of the Lorenz cipher. Colossus used thermionic valves (vacuum tubes) to perform Boolean and counting operations. Colossus ...
– the world's first programmable, electronic, digital
Digital usually refers to something using discrete digits, often binary digits.
Technology and computing Hardware
*Digital electronics, electronic circuits which operate using digital signals
** Digital camera, which captures and stores digital ...
computer – invented by Tommy Flowers (1905–1988).
* 1946–1950: ACE and Pilot ACE
The Pilot ACE (Automatic Computing Engine) was one of the first computers built in the United Kingdom. Built at the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) in the early 1950s, it was also one of the earliest general-purpose, stored-program computers ...
invented by Alan Turing
Alan Mathison Turing (; 23 June 1912 – 7 June 1954) was an English mathematician, computer scientist, logician, cryptanalyst, philosopher, and theoretical biologist. Turing was highly influential in the development of theoretical ...
(1912–1954).
* 1946–1947: The Williams tube
The Williams tube, or the Williams–Kilburn tube named after inventors Freddie Williams and Tom Kilburn, is an early form of computer memory. It was the first random-access digital storage device, and was used successfully in several early co ...
, a cathode ray tube
A cathode-ray tube (CRT) is a vacuum tube containing one or more electron guns, which emit electron beams that are manipulated to display images on a phosphorescent screen. The images may represent electrical waveforms ( oscilloscope), ...
used to store electronically (500 to 1,000 bits of) binary data, developed by Frederic Calland Williams
Sir Frederic Calland Williams, (26 June 1911 – 11 August 1977), known as F.C. Williams or Freddie Williams, was an English engineer, a pioneer in radar and computer technology.
Education
Williams was born in Romiley, Stockport, and edu ...
(1911–1977) and Tom Kilburn
Tom Kilburn (11 August 1921 – 17 January 2001) was an English mathematician and computer scientist. Over the course of a productive 30-year career, he was involved in the development of five computers of great historical significance. With ...
(1921–2001).
* 1948: The Manchester Baby – the world's first electronic stored-programme computer – built by Frederic Calland Williams
Sir Frederic Calland Williams, (26 June 1911 – 11 August 1977), known as F.C. Williams or Freddie Williams, was an English engineer, a pioneer in radar and computer technology.
Education
Williams was born in Romiley, Stockport, and edu ...
(1911–1977) and Tom Kilburn
Tom Kilburn (11 August 1921 – 17 January 2001) was an English mathematician and computer scientist. Over the course of a productive 30-year career, he was involved in the development of five computers of great historical significance. With ...
(1921–2001) at the Victoria University of Manchester.
* 1949: The Manchester Mark 1
The Manchester Mark 1 was one of the earliest stored-program computers, developed at the Victoria University of Manchester, England from the Manchester Baby (operational in June 1948). Work began in August 1948, and the first version was oper ...
computer developed by Frederic Calland Williams
Sir Frederic Calland Williams, (26 June 1911 – 11 August 1977), known as F.C. Williams or Freddie Williams, was an English engineer, a pioneer in radar and computer technology.
Education
Williams was born in Romiley, Stockport, and edu ...
(1911–1977) and Tom Kilburn
Tom Kilburn (11 August 1921 – 17 January 2001) was an English mathematician and computer scientist. Over the course of a productive 30-year career, he was involved in the development of five computers of great historical significance. With ...
(1921–2001); historically significant because of its pioneering inclusion of index registers.
* 1949: EDSAC
The Electronic Delay Storage Automatic Calculator (EDSAC) was an early British computer. Inspired by John von Neumann's seminal '' First Draft of a Report on the EDVAC'', the machine was constructed by Maurice Wilkes and his team at the Univer ...
– the first complete, fully functional computer inspired by the von Neumann architecture
The von Neumann architecture — also known as the von Neumann model or Princeton architecture — is a computer architecture based on a 1945 description by John von Neumann, and by others, in the '' First Draft of a Report on the EDVAC''. T ...
, the basis of every modern computer – constructed by Maurice Wilkes
Sir Maurice Vincent Wilkes (26 June 1913 – 29 November 2010) was a British computer scientist who designed and helped build the Electronic Delay Storage Automatic Calculator (EDSAC), one of the earliest stored program computers, and who i ...
(1913–2010).
* Late 1940s/early 1950s: The integrated circuit
An integrated circuit or monolithic integrated circuit (also referred to as an IC, a chip, or a microchip) is a set of electronic circuits on one small flat piece (or "chip") of semiconductor material, usually silicon. Large numbers of tiny ...
, commonly called the ''microchip'', conceptualised and built by Geoffrey Dummer (1909–2002).
* February 1951: The Ferranti Mark 1 (a.k.a. the ''Manchester Electronic Computer''), the world's first successful commercially available general-purpose electronic computer, invented by Frederic Calland Williams
Sir Frederic Calland Williams, (26 June 1911 – 11 August 1977), known as F.C. Williams or Freddie Williams, was an English engineer, a pioneer in radar and computer technology.
Education
Williams was born in Romiley, Stockport, and edu ...
(1911–1977) and Tom Kilburn
Tom Kilburn (11 August 1921 – 17 January 2001) was an English mathematician and computer scientist. Over the course of a productive 30-year career, he was involved in the development of five computers of great historical significance. With ...
(1921–2001).
* 1951: The first known recordings of computer generated music
Computer music is the application of computing technology in music composition, to help human composers create new music or to have computers independently create music, such as with algorithmic composition programs. It includes the theory and ...
played on the Ferranti Mark 1 computer using a programme designed by Christopher Strachey (1916–1975).
* 1951: LEO made history by running the first business application (payroll system) on an electronic computer for J. Lyons and Co. Under the advice of Maurice Wilkes
Sir Maurice Vincent Wilkes (26 June 1913 – 29 November 2010) was a British computer scientist who designed and helped build the Electronic Delay Storage Automatic Calculator (EDSAC), one of the earliest stored program computers, and who i ...
(1913–2010), LEO was designed by John Pinkerton
John Pinkerton (17 February 1758 – 10 March 1826) was a Scottish antiquarian, cartographer, author, numismatist, historian, and early advocate of Germanic racial supremacy theory.
He was born in Edinburgh, as one of three sons to Ja ...
(1919–1997) and David Caminer
David Caminer OBE (26 June 1915 – 19 June 2008) was a British computer engineer who helped to develop the world's first business computer, LEO (Lyons Electronic Office). He has been called "the world's first corporate electronic systems analys ...
(1915–2008).
* 1951: Concept of microprogramming developed by Maurice Wilkes
Sir Maurice Vincent Wilkes (26 June 1913 – 29 November 2010) was a British computer scientist who designed and helped build the Electronic Delay Storage Automatic Calculator (EDSAC), one of the earliest stored program computers, and who i ...
(1913–2010) from the realisation that the Central Processing Unit
A central processing unit (CPU), also called a central processor, main processor or just processor, is the electronic circuitry that executes instructions comprising a computer program. The CPU performs basic arithmetic, logic, controlling, a ...
(CPU) of a computer could be controlled by a miniature, highly specialised computer programme in high-speed ROM.
* 1952: Autocode developed by Alick Glennie (1925–2003) for the Manchester Mark 1
The Manchester Mark 1 was one of the earliest stored-program computers, developed at the Victoria University of Manchester, England from the Manchester Baby (operational in June 1948). Work began in August 1948, and the first version was oper ...
computer; Autocode is regarded as the first computer compiler
In computing, a compiler is a computer program that translates computer code written in one programming language (the ''source'' language) into another language (the ''target'' language). The name "compiler" is primarily used for programs tha ...
.
* 1952: The first graphical computer game, ''OXO'' or ''Noughts and Crosses'', programmed on the EDSAC
The Electronic Delay Storage Automatic Calculator (EDSAC) was an early British computer. Inspired by John von Neumann's seminal '' First Draft of a Report on the EDVAC'', the machine was constructed by Maurice Wilkes and his team at the Univer ...
at Cambridge University
, mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts.
Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge.
, established =
, other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...
as part of a Ph.D. thesis by A.S. Douglas
Alexander Shafto "Sandy" Douglas CBE (21 May 1921 – 29 April 2010) was a British professor of computer science, credited with creating the first graphical computer game OXO, a Noughts and Crosses computer game in 1952 on the EDSAC computer ...
(1921–2010).
* 1952: First trackball
A trackball is a pointing device consisting of a ball held by a socket containing sensors to detect a rotation of the ball about two axes—like an upside-down ball mouse with an exposed protruding ball. Users roll the ball to position the o ...
built by Tom Cranston, Fred Longstaff and Kenyon Taylor (1908–1996); invented 1947 by Ralph Benjamin
Ralph Benjamin (17 November 1922 – 7 May 2019) was a British scientist and electrical engineer.
Biography
Benjamin was born in Darmstadt, Germany. He attended boarding school in Switzerland from 1937, and was sent to England in 1939 as a ...
.
* 1956 onwards: Metrovick 950, the first commercial transistor computer
A transistor computer, now often called a second-generation computer, is a computer which uses discrete transistors instead of vacuum tubes. The first generation of electronic computers used vacuum tubes, which generated large amounts of heat, ...
, built by the Metropolitan-Vickers
Metropolitan-Vickers, Metrovick, or Metrovicks, was a British heavy electrical engineering company of the early-to-mid 20th century formerly known as British Westinghouse. Highly diversified, it was particularly well known for its industrial el ...
Company of Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The ...
.
* 1958: EDSAC 2, the first computer to have a microprogrammed (Microcode
In processor design, microcode (μcode) is a technique that interposes a layer of computer organization between the central processing unit (CPU) hardware and the programmer-visible instruction set architecture of a computer. Microcode is a la ...
) control unit and a bit slice
Bit slicing is a technique for constructing a processor from modules of processors of smaller bit width, for the purpose of increasing the word length; in theory to make an arbitrary ''n''-bit central processing unit (CPU). Each of these com ...
hardware architecture, developed by a team headed by Maurice Wilkes
Sir Maurice Vincent Wilkes (26 June 1913 – 29 November 2010) was a British computer scientist who designed and helped build the Electronic Delay Storage Automatic Calculator (EDSAC), one of the earliest stored program computers, and who i ...
(1913–2010).
* 1961: The Sumlock ANITA calculator
The ANITA Mark VII and ANITA Mark VIII calculators were launched simultaneously in late 1961 as the world's first all- electronic desktop calculators. Designed and built by the Bell Punch Co. in Britain, and marketed through its Sumlock Co ...
, the world's first all-electronic desktop calculator
An electronic calculator is typically a portable electronic device used to perform calculations, ranging from basic arithmetic to complex mathematics.
The first solid-state electronic calculator was created in the early 1960s. Pocket-sized ...
, designed and built by the Bell Punch
The Bell Punch Company was a British company manufacturing a variety of business machines, most notably several generations of public transport ticket machines and the world's first desktop electronic calculator, the Sumlock ANITA.
History
The ...
Company of Uxbridge
Uxbridge () is a suburban town in west London and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Hillingdon. Situated west-northwest of Charing Cross, it is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan. Uxb ...
.
* 1962: The Atlas
An atlas is a collection of maps; it is typically a bundle of maps of Earth or of a region of Earth.
Atlases have traditionally been bound into book form, but today many atlases are in multimedia formats. In addition to presenting geogra ...
computer – arguably the world's first supercomputer
A supercomputer is a computer with a high level of performance as compared to a general-purpose computer. The performance of a supercomputer is commonly measured in floating-point operations per second ( FLOPS) instead of million instructio ...
, and fastest computer in the world until the American CDC 6600 – developed by a team headed by Tom Kilburn
Tom Kilburn (11 August 1921 – 17 January 2001) was an English mathematician and computer scientist. Over the course of a productive 30-year career, he was involved in the development of five computers of great historical significance. With ...
(1921–2001). Introduced modern architectural concepts: spooling
In computing, spooling is a specialized form of multi-programming for the purpose of copying data between different devices. In contemporary systems, it is usually used for mediating between a computer application and a slow peripheral, such a ...
, interrupts
In digital computers, an interrupt (sometimes referred to as a trap) is a request for the processor to ''interrupt'' currently executing code (when permitted), so that the event can be processed in a timely manner. If the request is accepted, ...
, instruction pipelining, interleaved memory, virtual memory
In computing, virtual memory, or virtual storage is a memory management technique that provides an "idealized abstraction of the storage resources that are actually available on a given machine" which "creates the illusion to users of a very ...
, and paging
In computer operating systems, memory paging is a memory management scheme by which a computer stores and retrieves data from secondary storage for use in main memory. In this scheme, the operating system retrieves data from secondary storage ...
.
* Late 1960s: Denotational semantics
In computer science, denotational semantics (initially known as mathematical semantics or Scott–Strachey semantics) is an approach of formalizing the meanings of programming languages by constructing mathematical objects (called ''denotations' ...
originated in the work of Christopher Strachey (1916–1975), a pioneer in programming language design.
* 1970: Packet switching
In telecommunications, packet switching is a method of grouping data into '' packets'' that are transmitted over a digital network. Packets are made of a header and a payload. Data in the header is used by networking hardware to direct the p ...
co-invented by Welsh engineer Donald Davies (1924–2000) and Polish-born Paul Baran; it was Davies who coined the term ''packet switching'' at the National Physical Laboratory in London.
* 1972: The Sinclair Executive
The Sinclair Executive was the world's first "slimline" pocket calculator, and the first to be produced by Clive Sinclair's company Sinclair Radionics. Introduced in 1972, there were at least two different versions of the Sinclair Executive, ...
, the world's first small electronic pocket calculator, produced by Sir Clive Sinclair
Sir Clive Marles Sinclair (30 July 1940 – 16 September 2021) was an English entrepreneur and inventor, best known for being a pioneer in the computing industry, and also as the founder of several companies that developed consumer electronic ...
(born 1940).
* 1979: The first laptop computer, the GRiD Compass
The Grid Compass (written ''GRiD'' by its manufacturer GRiD Systems Corporation) is one of the first laptop computers.
History
Development began in 1979, and the main buyer was the U.S. government. NASA used it on the Space Shuttle during t ...
, designed by Bill Moggridge (1943–2012).
* 1979: Digital audio player (MP3 Player) invented by Kane Kramer (born 1956). His first investor was Sir Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...
.
* 1980–1982: Home computers the Sinclair ZX80, ZX81 and ZX Spectrum
The ZX Spectrum () is an 8-bit home computer that was developed by Sinclair Research. It was released in the United Kingdom on 23 April 1982, and became Britain's best-selling microcomputer.
Referred to during development as the ''ZX81 Colou ...
produced by Sir Clive Sinclair
Sir Clive Marles Sinclair (30 July 1940 – 16 September 2021) was an English entrepreneur and inventor, best known for being a pioneer in the computing industry, and also as the founder of several companies that developed consumer electronic ...
(born 1940).
* 1981: The Osborne 1
The Osborne 1 is the first commercially successful portable computer, released on April 3, 1981 by Osborne Computer Corporation. It weighs , cost US$1,795, and runs the CP/M 2.2 operating system. It is powered from a wall socket, as it has no ...
– the first commercially successful portable computer, precursor to the laptop computer – developed by English-American Adam Osborne
Adam Osborne (March 6, 1939 – March 18, 2003) was a British author, book and software publisher, and computer designer who founded several companies in the United States and elsewhere. He introduced the Osborne 1, the first commercially su ...
(1939–2003).
* 1982: 3D Monster Maze, widely considered the first survival horror
Survival horror is a subgenre of survival of the players as the game tries to frighten them with either horror graphics or scary ambience. Although combat can be part of the gameplay, the player is made to feel less in control than in typical ac ...
computer game
Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This feedback ...
, developed from an idea by J. K. Greye and programmed by Malcolm Evans (b. 1944).
* 1984: The world's first pocket computer
A pocket computer was a 1980s-era user programmable calculator-sized computer that had fewer screen lines,
Some had only one line and often fewer characters per line, than the Pocket-sized computers introduced beginning in 1989. Manufacturers in ...
, the (Psion Organiser
Psion Organiser was the brand name of a range of pocket computers developed by the British company Psion in the 1980s. The Organiser I (launched in 1984) and Organiser II (launched in 1986) had a characteristic hard plastic sliding cover pro ...
), launched by London-based Psion PLC.
* 1984: ''Elite
In political and sociological theory, the elite (french: élite, from la, eligere, to select or to sort out) are a small group of powerful people who hold a disproportionate amount of wealth, privilege, political power, or skill in a group. ...
'', the world's first computer game
Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This feedback ...
with 3D graphics, developed by David Braben (born 1964) and Ian Bell (born 1962).
* 1985: ARM architecture
ARM (stylised in lowercase as arm, formerly an acronym for Advanced RISC Machines and originally Acorn RISC Machine) is a family of reduced instruction set computer (RISC) instruction set architectures for computer processors, configured ...
introduced by Cambridge
Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...
computer manufacturer Acorn Computers
Acorn Computers Ltd. was a British computer company established in Cambridge, England, in 1978. The company produced a number of computers which were especially popular in the UK, including the Acorn Electron and the Acorn Archimedes. Acorn's ...
; the ARM CPU design is the microprocessor
A microprocessor is a computer processor where the data processing logic and control is included on a single integrated circuit, or a small number of integrated circuits. The microprocessor contains the arithmetic, logic, and control circ ...
architecture of 98% of mobile phone
A mobile phone, cellular phone, cell phone, cellphone, handphone, hand phone or pocket phone, sometimes shortened to simply mobile, cell, or just phone, is a portable telephone that can make and receive calls over a radio frequency link whi ...
s and every smartphone
A smartphone is a portable computer device that combines mobile telephone and computing functions into one unit. They are distinguished from feature phones by their stronger hardware capabilities and extensive mobile operating systems, whi ...
.
* 1989: World Wide Web
The World Wide Web (WWW), commonly known as the Web, is an information system enabling documents and other web resources to be accessed over the Internet.
Documents and downloadable media are made available to the network through web ...
invented by Sir Tim Berners-Lee
Sir Timothy John Berners-Lee (born 8 June 1955), also known as TimBL, is an English computer scientist best known as the inventor of the World Wide Web. He is a Professorial Fellow of Computer Science at the University of Oxford and a profes ...
(born 1955).
* 1989: HTTP
The Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) is an application layer protocol in the Internet protocol suite model for distributed, collaborative, hypermedia information systems. HTTP is the foundation of data communication for the World Wide We ...
application protocol
An application layer is an abstraction layer that specifies the shared communications protocols and interface methods used by hosts in a communications network. An ''application layer'' abstraction is specified in both the Internet Protocol Sui ...
and HTML
The HyperText Markup Language or HTML is the standard markup language for documents designed to be displayed in a web browser. It can be assisted by technologies such as Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) and scripting languages such as JavaS ...
markup language
Markup language refers to a text-encoding system consisting of a set of symbols inserted in a text document to control its structure, formatting, or the relationship between its parts. Markup is often used to control the display of the document ...
developed by Sir Tim Berners-Lee
Sir Timothy John Berners-Lee (born 8 June 1955), also known as TimBL, is an English computer scientist best known as the inventor of the World Wide Web. He is a Professorial Fellow of Computer Science at the University of Oxford and a profes ...
(born 1955).
* 1989: Launch of the first PC-compatible palmtop computer, the ( Atari Portfolio), designed by Ian H. S. Cullimore.
* 1989: First touchpad pointing device developed for London-based Psion PLC's Psion MC 200/400/600/WORD Series.
* 1990: The world's first web browser
A web browser is application software for accessing websites. When a user requests a web page from a particular website, the browser retrieves its files from a web server and then displays the page on the user's screen. Browsers are used o ...
invented by Sir Tim Berners-Lee
Sir Timothy John Berners-Lee (born 8 June 1955), also known as TimBL, is an English computer scientist best known as the inventor of the World Wide Web. He is a Professorial Fellow of Computer Science at the University of Oxford and a profes ...
(born 1955). Initially called WorldWideWeb, it ran on the NeXTSTEP
NeXTSTEP is a discontinued object-oriented, multitasking operating system based on the Mach kernel and the UNIX-derived BSD. It was developed by NeXT Computer in the late 1980s and early 1990s and was initially used for its range of propri ...
platform, and was renamed ''Nexus'' in order to avoid confusion with the World Wide Web
The World Wide Web (WWW), commonly known as the Web, is an information system enabling documents and other web resources to be accessed over the Internet.
Documents and downloadable media are made available to the network through web ...
.
* 1990: The world's first web server
A web server is computer software and underlying hardware that accepts requests via HTTP (the network protocol created to distribute web content) or its secure variant HTTPS. A user agent, commonly a web browser or web crawler, initia ...
invented by Sir Tim Berners-Lee. Initially called ''WWWDaemon'', it ran on the NeXTSTEP platform and it was publicly released in 1991; later it evolved and it was known as CERN httpd.
* 1991 onwards: Linux kernel
The Linux kernel is a free and open-source, monolithic, modular, multitasking, Unix-like operating system kernel. It was originally authored in 1991 by Linus Torvalds for his i386-based PC, and it was soon adopted as the kernel for the GNU ...
development and maintenance were greatly helped by English-born Andrew Morton (born 1959) and Alan Cox (born 1968).
* 2002: Wolfram's 2-state 3-symbol Turing machine proposed by London-born Stephen Wolfram (born 1959).
* 2012: Launch of the Raspberry Pi, a modern single-board computer for education, designed and built by Cambridgeshire
Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to t ...
-based charity Raspberry Pi Foundation.
Criminology
* 1836:Marsh test
The Marsh test is a highly sensitive method in the detection of arsenic, especially useful in the field of forensic toxicology when arsenic was used as a poison. It was developed by the chemist James Marsh and first published in 1836. The met ...
(used for detecting arsenic
Arsenic is a chemical element with the symbol As and atomic number 33. Arsenic occurs in many minerals, usually in combination with sulfur and metals, but also as a pure elemental crystal. Arsenic is a metalloid. It has various allotropes, b ...
poisoning) invented by James Marsh (1794–1846).
* 1888–1895: Fingerprint
A fingerprint is an impression left by the friction ridges of a human finger. The recovery of partial fingerprints from a crime scene is an important method of forensic science. Moisture and grease on a finger result in fingerprints on surfac ...
classification method developed by Sir Francis Galton
Sir Francis Galton, FRS FRAI (; 16 February 1822 – 17 January 1911), was an English Victorian era polymath: a statistician, sociologist, psychologist, Anthropology, anthropologist, tropical Exploration, explorer, geographer, Inventio ...
(1822–1911); a breakthrough in forensic science
Forensic science, also known as criminalistics, is the application of science to criminal and civil laws, mainly—on the criminal side—during criminal investigation, as governed by the legal standards of admissible evidence and criminal ...
.
* 1910: First use of wireless telegraphy
Wireless telegraphy or radiotelegraphy is transmission of text messages by radio waves, analogous to electrical telegraphy using cables. Before about 1910, the term ''wireless telegraphy'' was also used for other experimental technologies for ...
in the arrest of a criminal, Dr Crippen.
* 1984: DNA fingerprint
DNA profiling (also called DNA fingerprinting) is the process of determining an individual's DNA characteristics. DNA analysis intended to identify a species, rather than an individual, is called DNA barcoding.
DNA profiling is a forensic tec ...
s are discovered by Alec Jeffreys
Sir Alec John Jeffreys, (born 9 January 1950) is a British geneticist known for developing techniques for genetic fingerprinting and DNA profiling which are now used worldwide in forensic science to assist police detective work and to resolve ...
(born 1950).
* 1987: Process of DNA profiling
DNA profiling (also called DNA fingerprinting) is the process of determining an individual's DNA characteristics. DNA analysis intended to identify a species, rather than an individual, is called DNA barcoding.
DNA profiling is a forensic t ...
developed by Alec Jeffreys
Sir Alec John Jeffreys, (born 9 January 1950) is a British geneticist known for developing techniques for genetic fingerprinting and DNA profiling which are now used worldwide in forensic science to assist police detective work and to resolve ...
(born 1950).
* 1991: Iris recognition algorithm
In mathematics and computer science, an algorithm () is a finite sequence of rigorous instructions, typically used to solve a class of specific problems or to perform a computation. Algorithms are used as specifications for performing ...
invented by Swede John Daugman working at the University of Cambridge
, mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts.
Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge.
, established =
, other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...
.
* 1995: World's first national flop DNA database
A DNA database or DNA databank is a database of DNA profiles which can be used in the analysis of genetic diseases, genetic fingerprinting for criminology, or genetic genealogy. DNA databases may be public or private, the largest ones being nat ...
developed: National DNA Database
A DNA database or DNA databank is a database of DNA profiles which can be used in the analysis of genetic diseases, genetic fingerprinting for criminology, or genetic genealogy. DNA databases may be public or private, the largest ones being nat ...
.
Cryptography
* 1605: Bacon's cipher devised by SirFrancis Bacon
Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Alban (; 22 January 1561 – 9 April 1626), also known as Lord Verulam, was an English philosopher and statesman who served as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England. Bacon led the advancement of both ...
(1561–1626).
* 1854: The Playfair cipher, the first literal digraph substitution cipher, invented by Charles Wheatstone (1802–1875).
* 1941: Codebreaker Bill Tutte
William Thomas Tutte OC FRS FRSC (; 14 May 1917 – 2 May 2002) was an English and Canadian codebreaker and mathematician. During the Second World War, he made a brilliant and fundamental advance in cryptanalysis of the Lorenz cipher, a majo ...
(1917–2002) developed the Cryptanalysis of the Lorenz cipher
Cryptanalysis of the Lorenz cipher was the process that enabled the British to read high-level German army messages during World War II. The British Government Code and Cypher School (GC&CS) at Bletchley Park decrypted many communications betwe ...
, which Hitler used to communicate with his generals in World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
.
* 1973: Clifford Cocks
Clifford Christopher Cocks (born 28 December 1950) is a British mathematician and cryptographer.
In 1973, while working at the United Kingdom Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), he invented a public-key cryptography algorithm equiv ...
(born 1950) first developed what came to be known as the RSA cipher at GCHQ, approximately three years before it was rediscovered by Rivest
Ronald Linn Rivest (; born May 6, 1947) is a cryptographer and an Institute Professor at MIT. He is a member of MIT's Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS) and a member of MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intel ...
, Shamir, and Adleman at MIT.
Engineering
* 1600: The first electricalmeasuring instrument
A measuring instrument is a device to measure a physical quantity. In the physical sciences, quality assurance, and engineering, measurement is the activity of obtaining and comparing physical quantities of real-world objects and events. Est ...
, the electroscope, invented by William Gilbert (1544–1603).
* 1676–1678: First working universal joint devised by Robert Hooke
Robert Hooke FRS (; 18 July 16353 March 1703) was an English polymath active as a scientist, natural philosopher and architect, who is credited to be one of two scientists to discover microorganisms in 1665 using a compound microscope that ...
(1635–1703).
* 1698: First working steam pump invented by Thomas Savery
Thomas Savery (; c. 1650 – 15 May 1715) was an English inventor and engineer. He invented the first commercially used steam-powered device, a steam pump which is often referred to as the "Savery engine". Savery's steam pump was a revolutionar ...
(c. 1650–1715).
* 1709: First coke-consuming blast furnace
A blast furnace is a type of metallurgical furnace used for smelting to produce industrial metals, generally pig iron, but also others such as lead or copper. ''Blast'' refers to the combustion air being "forced" or supplied above atmospheri ...
developed by Abraham Darby I (1678–1717).
* 1712: Atmospheric steam engine invented by Thomas Newcomen
Thomas Newcomen (; February 1664 – 5 August 1729) was an English inventor who created the atmospheric engine, the first practical fuel-burning engine in 1712. He was an ironmonger by trade and a Baptist lay preacher by calling.
He ...
(1664–1729).
* 1739: Screw-cutting lathe invented by Henry Hindley (1701–1771).
* 1780: Modified version of the Newcomen engine
The atmospheric engine was invented by Thomas Newcomen in 1712, and is often referred to as the Newcomen fire engine (see below) or simply as a Newcomen engine. The engine was operated by condensing steam drawn into the cylinder, thereby creati ...
(the ''Pickard engine'') developed by James Pickard (dates unknown).
* 1781: The Iron Bridge
The Iron Bridge is a cast iron arch bridge that crosses the River Severn in Shropshire, England. Opened in 1781, it was the first major bridge in the world to be made of cast iron. Its success inspired the widespread use of cast iron as a st ...
, the first metal bridge, cast and built by Abraham Darby III
Abraham Darby III (24 April 1750 – 1789) was an English ironmaster and Quaker. He was the third man of that name in several generations of an English Quaker family that played a pivotal role in the Industrial Revolution.
Life
Abraham Darby ...
(1750–1789).
* 1791: The first true gas turbine
A gas turbine, also called a combustion turbine, is a type of continuous flow internal combustion engine. The main parts common to all gas turbine engines form the power-producing part (known as the gas generator or core) and are, in the directio ...
invented by John Barber (1734–1801).
* 1796–97: The first iron-framed building (and therefore forerunner of the skyscraper) – Ditherington Flax Mill in Shrewsbury
Shrewsbury ( , also ) is a market town, civil parish, and the county town of Shropshire, England, on the River Severn, north-west of London; at the 2021 census, it had a population of 76,782. The town's name can be pronounced as either 'Sh ...
, Shropshire
Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to ...
– built by Charles Bage
Charles Woolley Bage (1751–1822) was an English architect, born in a Quaker family
"Bage Way", part of Shrewsbury's 20th century inner ring road which links Old Potts Way to Crowmere Road, was named for him.
References
1751 births
18 ...
(1751–1822).
* 1800: First industrially practical screw-cutting lathe developed by Henry Maudslay
Henry Maudslay ( pronunciation and spelling) (22 August 1771 – 14 February 1831) was an English machine tool innovator, tool and die maker, and inventor. He is considered a founding father of machine tool technology. His inventions were ...
(1771–1831).
* 1806: The Fourdrinier machine
A paper machine (or paper-making machine) is an industrial machine which is used in the pulp and paper industry
to create paper in large quantities at high speed. Modern paper-making machines are based on the principles of the Fourdrinier Mac ...
, a papermaking
Papermaking is the manufacture of paper and cardboard, which are used widely for printing, writing, and packaging, among many other purposes. Today almost all paper is made using industrial machinery, while handmade paper survives as a speciali ...
machine, invented by Henry Fourdrinier (1766–1854).
* 1823: First internal combustion engine
An internal combustion engine (ICE or IC engine) is a heat engine in which the combustion of a fuel occurs with an oxidizer (usually air) in a combustion chamber that is an integral part of the working fluid flow circuit. In an internal co ...
to be applied industrially patented by Samuel Brown (?–1849).
* 1826: Continuous track
Continuous track is a system of vehicle propulsion used in tracked vehicles, running on a continuous band of treads or track plates driven by two or more wheels. The large surface area of the tracks distributes the weight of the vehicle ...
(under the name "universal railway") patented by Sir George Cayley
Sir George Cayley, 6th Baronet (27 December 1773 – 15 December 1857) was an English engineer, inventor, and aviator. He is one of the most important people in the history of aeronautics. Many consider him to be the first true scientific aer ...
(1773–1857).
* 1830: First ( toroidal, closed-core) electric transformer
A transformer is a passive component that transfers electrical energy from one electrical circuit to another circuit, or multiple circuits. A varying current in any coil of the transformer produces a varying magnetic flux in the transformer' ...
invented by Michael Faraday
Michael Faraday (; 22 September 1791 – 25 August 1867) was an English scientist who contributed to the study of electromagnetism and electrochemistry. His main discoveries include the principles underlying electromagnetic inducti ...
(1791–1867).
* 1831: First Electrical generator
In electricity generation, a generator is a device that converts motive power ( mechanical energy) or fuel-based power ( chemical energy) into electric power for use in an external circuit. Sources of mechanical energy include steam turbines, ...
(or dynamo
"Dynamo Electric Machine" (end view, partly section, )
A dynamo is an electrical generator that creates direct current using a commutator. Dynamos were the first electrical generators capable of delivering power for industry, and the foundati ...
), the Faraday disk, invented by Michael Faraday
Michael Faraday (; 22 September 1791 – 25 August 1867) was an English scientist who contributed to the study of electromagnetism and electrochemistry. His main discoveries include the principles underlying electromagnetic inducti ...
.
* 1834–1878: Water
Water (chemical formula ) is an inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living organisms (in which it acts as ...
and sewerage
Sewerage (or sewage system) is the infrastructure that conveys sewage or surface runoff (stormwater, meltwater, rainwater) using sewers. It encompasses components such as receiving drainage, drains, manholes, pumping stations, storm overflows, a ...
systems for over thirty cities across Europe designed by William Lindley (1808–1900).
* 1840s: The linear motor
A linear motor is an electric motor that has had its stator and rotor "unrolled", thus, instead of producing a torque (rotation), it produces a linear force along its length. However, linear motors are not necessarily straight. Characteristica ...
, a multi-phase alternating current (AC) electric motor, proposed by Charles Wheatstone (1802–1875); 1940s: developed by Eric Laithwaite (1921–1997).
* 1841: Widely accepted standard for screw threads
A screw thread, often shortened to thread, is a helical structure used to convert between rotational and linear movement or force. A screw thread is a ridge wrapped around a cylinder or cone in the form of a helix, with the former being called a ...
devised by Joseph Whitworth
Sir Joseph Whitworth, 1st Baronet (21 December 1803 – 22 January 1887) was an English engineer, entrepreneur, inventor and philanthropist. In 1841, he devised the British Standard Whitworth system, which created an accepted standard for scre ...
(1803–1887).
* 1842: The adjustable spanner
An adjustable spanner (UK and most other English-speaking countries) or adjustable wrench (US and Canada) is any of various styles of spanner (wrench) with a movable jaw, allowing it to be used with different sizes of fastener head ( nut, bol ...
invented by Edwin Beard Budding (1796–1846).
* 1845: Hydraulic
Hydraulics (from Greek: Υδραυλική) is a technology and applied science using engineering, chemistry, and other sciences involving the mechanical properties and use of liquids. At a very basic level, hydraulics is the liquid counte ...
crane developed by William Armstrong (1810–1900); in 1863, Armstrong also built the first house in the world powered by hydroelectricity
Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined an ...
, at Cragside
Cragside is a Victorian country house near the town of Rothbury in Northumberland, England. It was the home of William Armstrong, 1st Baron Armstrong, founder of the Armstrong Whitworth armaments firm. An industrial magnate, scientist, phila ...
, Northumberland
Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey.
It is bordered by land ...
.
* 1846: The first fireproof warehousing complex – Albert Dock, Liverpool
Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...
– designed by Jesse Hartley (1780–1860).
* 1848: The Francis turbine
The Francis turbine is a type of water turbine. It is an inward-flow reaction turbine that combines radial and axial flow concepts. Francis turbines are the most common water turbine in use today, and can achieve over 95% efficiency.
The proc ...
developed by James B. Francis
James Bicheno Francis (May 18, 1815 – September 18, 1892) was a British-American civil engineer, who invented the Francis turbine.
Early years
James Francis was born in South Leigh, near Witney, Oxfordshire, in England, United Kingdom. ...
(1815–1892), born near Witney
Witney is a market town on the River Windrush in West Oxfordshire in the county of Oxfordshire, England. It is west of Oxford. The place-name "Witney" is derived from the Old English for "Witta's island". The earliest known record of it is as ...
, Oxfordshire.
* 1868: First commercial steel alloy
An alloy is a mixture of chemical elements of which at least one is a metal. Unlike chemical compounds with metallic bases, an alloy will retain all the properties of a metal in the resulting material, such as electrical conductivity, ductili ...
produced by Robert Forester Mushet (1811–1891).
* 1869–1875: Crookes tube, the first cathode ray tube
A cathode-ray tube (CRT) is a vacuum tube containing one or more electron guns, which emit electron beams that are manipulated to display images on a phosphorescent screen. The images may represent electrical waveforms ( oscilloscope), ...
, invented by William Crookes (1832–1919).
* 1871: First enclosed wind tunnel
Wind tunnels are large tubes with air blowing through them which are used to replicate the interaction between air and an object flying through the air or moving along the ground. Researchers use wind tunnels to learn more about how an aircraft ...
invented, designed and operated by Francis Herbert Wenham (1824–1908).
* 1872: The Carey Foster bridge
In electronics, the Carey Foster bridge is a bridge circuit used to measure medium resistances, or to measure small differences between two large resistances. It was invented by Carey Foster as a variant on the Wheatstone bridge. He first described ...
, a type of bridge circuit
A bridge circuit is a topology of electrical circuitry in which two circuit branches (usually in parallel with each other) are "bridged" by a third branch connected between the first two branches at some intermediate point along them. The bridge ...
, invented by Carey Foster
George Carey Foster FRS (October 1835 – 9 February 1919) was a chemist and physicist, born at Sabden in Lancashire. He was Professor of Physics at University College London, and served as the first Principal (salaried head of the College) fr ...
(1835–1919).
* 1880–1883: The Wimshurst machine, an Electrostatic generator
An electrostatic generator, or electrostatic machine, is an electrical generator that produces ''static electricity'', or electricity at high voltage and low continuous current. The knowledge of static electricity dates back to the earliest ci ...
for producing high voltages, developed by James Wimshurst (1832–1903).
* 1884: Steam turbine
A steam turbine is a machine that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam and uses it to do mechanical work on a rotating output shaft. Its modern manifestation was invented by Charles Parsons in 1884. Fabrication of a modern steam tu ...
invented by Charles Algernon Parsons
Sir Charles Algernon Parsons, (13 June 1854 – 11 February 1931) was an Anglo-Irish engineer, best known for his invention of the compound steam turbine, and as the eponym of C. A. Parsons and Company. He worked as an engineer on d ...
(1854–1913).
* 1885: Compression ignition engine (a.k.a. the diesel engine
The diesel engine, named after Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which ignition of the fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to mechanical compression; thus, the diesel engine is a so-cal ...
) invented by Herbert Akroyd Stuart
Herbert Akroyd-Stuart (28 January 1864 – 19 February 1927) was an English inventor who is noted for his invention of the hot bulb engine, or heavy oil engine.
Life
Akroyd-Stuart was born in Halifax, Yorkshire, but lived in Australia for a p ...
(1864–1927).
* 1886: Prototype hot bulb engine or heavy oil engine
The Hornsby-Akroyd oil engine, named after its inventor Herbert Akroyd Stuart and the manufacturer Richard Hornsby & Sons, was the first successful design of an internal combustion engine using heavy oil as a fuel. It was the first to use a se ...
built by Herbert Akroyd Stuart
Herbert Akroyd-Stuart (28 January 1864 – 19 February 1927) was an English inventor who is noted for his invention of the hot bulb engine, or heavy oil engine.
Life
Akroyd-Stuart was born in Halifax, Yorkshire, but lived in Australia for a p ...
(1864–1927).
* 1889: Two-stroke engine
A two-stroke (or two-stroke cycle) engine is a type of internal combustion engine that completes a power cycle with two strokes (up and down movements) of the piston during one power cycle, this power cycle being completed in one revolution of ...
invented by Joseph Day (1855–1946).
* 1890: Opening of the Forth Bridge
The Forth Bridge is a cantilever railway bridge across the Firth of Forth in the east of Scotland, west of central Edinburgh. Completed in 1890, it is considered a symbol of Scotland (having been voted Scotland's greatest man-made wonder in ...
– monumental cantilever
A cantilever is a rigid structural element that extends horizontally and is supported at only one end. Typically it extends from a flat vertical surface such as a wall, to which it must be firmly attached. Like other structural elements, a cant ...
railway bridge, and icon of Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...
– designed and engineered by English civil engineers Benjamin Baker (1840–1907) and John Fowler (1817–1898).
* 1902: Disc brake
A disc brake is a type of brake that uses the calipers to squeeze pairs of pads against a disc or a "rotor" to create friction. This action slows the rotation of a shaft, such as a vehicle axle, either to reduce its rotational speed or to h ...
s patented by Frederick W. Lanchester
Frederick William Lanchester LLD, Hon FRAeS, FRS (23 October 1868 – 8 March 1946), was an English polymath and engineer who made important contributions to automotive engineering and to aerodynamics, and co-invented the topic of operations ...
(1868–1946).
* 1904: Vacuum tube
A vacuum tube, electron tube, valve (British usage), or tube (North America), is a device that controls electric current flow in a high vacuum between electrodes to which an electric potential difference has been applied.
The type known as ...
(or ''valve'') invented by John Ambrose Fleming
Sir John Ambrose Fleming FRS (29 November 1849 – 18 April 1945) was an English electrical engineer and physicist who invented the first thermionic valve or vacuum tube, designed the radio transmitter with which the first transatlantic r ...
(1849–1945).
* 1907: First reported observation of electroluminescence
Electroluminescence (EL) is an optical and electrical phenomenon, in which a material emits light in response to the passage of an electric current or to a strong electric field. This is distinct from black body light emission resulting fro ...
from a diode
A diode is a two-terminal electronic component that conducts current primarily in one direction (asymmetric conductance); it has low (ideally zero) resistance in one direction, and high (ideally infinite) resistance in the other.
A diod ...
by H. J. Round (1881–1966); Round's discovery led to the creation of the light-emitting diode.
* 1917 onwards: Missile guidance, Radio guidance systems pioneered by Archibald Low (1888–1956).
* 1935: Arnold Frederic Wilkins (1907–1985) contributed to the development of radar.
* 1940: Cavity magnetron improved by John Randall (physicist), John Randall (1905–1984) and Harry Boot (1917–1983); consequently a critical component in microwave ovens and some radar.
* Late-1940s/early 1950s: The Integrated circuit, microchip invented by Geoffrey W.A. Dummer (1909–2002).
* 1963: High strength carbon fiber, carbon fibEngland
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...
) wove the first carbon fiber, carbon fibHousehold appliances
* 13th century: Magnifying glass defined by Roger Bacon (c.?1214-c.?1292).
* Before 1596: Modern flushing toilet invented by John Harington (writer), John Harington (1560–1612). The term 'John', used particularly in the US, is generally accepted as a direct reference to its inventor.
* 1733: Baby transport, Perambulator developed by William Kent (c. 1685–1748).
* 1780: First mass-produced toothbrush produced by William Addis (entrepreneur), William Addis (1734–1808).
* 1795: First corkscrew patent granted to the Reverend Samuel Henshall (1764/5–1807).
* 1810: Tin can for food preservation patented by merchant Peter Durand (dates not known).
* 1818: Modern fire extinguisher invented by George William Manby (1765–1854).
* 1828: Thermosiphon, which forms the basis of most modern central heating systems, invented by Thomas Fowler (inventor), Thomas Fowler (1777–1843).
* 1830: Lawn mower invented by Edwin Beard Budding (1796–1846).
* 1836: The Daniell cell – a type of electrochemical cell; an element of an Battery (electricity), electric battery – invented by John Frederic Daniell (1790–1845).
* 1840: Postage stamp invented by Sir Rowland Hill
Sir Rowland Hill, KCB, FRS (3 December 1795 – 27 August 1879) was an English teacher, inventor and social reformer. He campaigned for a comprehensive reform of the postal system, based on the concept of Uniform Penny Post and his solut ...
(1795–1879).
* 1845: Rubber band patented by inventor Stephen Perry (inventor), Stephen Perry (dates not known).
* 1878: Incandescent light bulb invented by Joseph Wilson Swan (1828–1914).
* 1884: Light switch invented by John Henry Holmes (dates not known) in Shieldfield.
* 1899: ''Little Nipper'' Mouse trap invented by James Henry Atkinson (1849–1942).
* Late-19th century: Commercially produced electric toaster developed by R. E. B. Crompton (1845–1940).
* Late-19th century: Modern pay toilet invented by John Nevil Maskelyne (1839–1917); Maskelyne invented a lock for London toilets, which required a penny to operate, hence the euphemism "spend a penny".
* 1901: First powered vacuum cleaner invented by Hubert Cecil Booth (1871–1955).
* Before 1902: First practical Teasmade designed by clockmaker Albert E. Richardson (dates not known) of Ashton-under-Lyne.
* Before 1920: Folding carton invented by Charles Henry Foyle (died 1948).
* 1924: First modern dishwasher invented by William Howard Livens (1889–1964)
* 1955: First fully automatic electric kettle produced by manufacturer Russell Hobbs of Failsworth, Greater Manchester.
* 1963: Lava lamp invented by accountant Edward Craven Walker.
* 1965: Collapsible baby buggy produced by Owen Finlay Maclaren (1907–1978).
* 1983: "Bagless" vacuum cleaner invented by James Dyson (born 1947).
Industrial processes
* 1740: Crucible steel, English crucible steel developed by Benjamin Huntsman (1704–1776).
* 1743: Sheffield plate, a layered combination of silver and copper, invented by Thomas Boulsover (1705–1788).
* 1746: The lead chamber process, for producing sulfuric acid in large quantities, invented by John Roebuck (1718–1794).
* c. 1760-c. 1840: Pioneers of the Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...
– Isambard Kingdom Brunel (1806–1859); Abraham Darby I (1678–1717); Abraham Darby II (1711–1763); Abraham Darby III
Abraham Darby III (24 April 1750 – 1789) was an English ironmaster and Quaker. He was the third man of that name in several generations of an English Quaker family that played a pivotal role in the Industrial Revolution.
Life
Abraham Darby ...
(1750–1789); Robert Forester Mushet (1811–1891).
* 1769: The water frame
The water frame is a spinning frame that is powered by a water-wheel. Water frames in general have existed since Ancient Egypt times. Richard Arkwright, who patented the technology in 1769, designed a model for the production of cotton thread; ...
, a water-powered spinning frame
The spinning frame is an Industrial Revolution invention for spinning thread or yarn from fibres such as wool or cotton in a mechanized way. It was developed in 18th-century Britain by Richard Arkwright and John Kay.
Historical context
In 1 ...
, invented by Richard Arkwright
Sir Richard Arkwright (23 December 1732 – 3 August 1792) was an English inventor and a leading entrepreneur during the early Industrial Revolution. He is credited as the driving force behind the development of the spinning frame, known as ...
(1732–1792).
* c. 1770: Coade stone, a high quality stoneware, created by Eleanor Coade (1733–1821).
* 1784–1789: Power loom
A power loom is a mechanized loom, and was one of the key developments in the industrialization of weaving during the early Industrial Revolution. The first power loom was designed in 1786 by Edmund Cartwright and first built that same year. ...
developed by Edmund Cartwright (1743–1823).
* 1795: Hydraulic press invented by Joseph Bramah (1748–1814).
* 1820: The Rubber Masticator, a machine for recycling rubber, invented by Thomas Hancock (inventor), Thomas Hancock (1786–1865).
* 1824: Portland cement patented by Joseph Aspdin (1778–1855).
* 1840: Electroplating process patented by George Elkington (1801–1865).
* 1843: Vulcanisation of rubber, a process for making natural rubber more durable, patented by Thomas Hancock (inventor), Thomas Hancock (1786–1865).
* 1850: The Parkes process, for removing silver from lead during the production of bullion, invented by Alexander Parkes (1813–1890).
* 1850–1855: Steel production Bessemer process developed by Henry Bessemer (1813–1898).
* 1862: First man-made plastic – Nitrocellulose, branded Parkesine – invented by Alexander Parkes (1813–1890).
* 1912: Stainless steel invented by Harry Brearley (1871–1948).
* 1933: First industrially practical polythene discovered by accident in 1933 by Eric Fawcett and Reginald Gibson in Northwich.
* 1952: The float glass process, for the manufacture of high-quality flat glass, invented by Alastair Pilkington (1920–1995).
* 1950s: The Wilson Yarn Clearer developed by inventor Peter Wilson (dates not known).
* 2001: Self-cleaning glass is developed by Pilkington.
Medicine
* Anglo-Saxon times: The earliest pharmacopoeia in English (Cotton Vitellius, MS C. iii).
* 1628: First correct description of Circulatory system, circulation of the blood in ''Exercitatio Anatomica de Motu Cordis et Sanguinis in Animalibus, De Motu Cordis'' by William Harvey (1578–1657).
* 18th century: Invention of surgical forceps attributed to Stephen Hales (1677–1761).Scientific American inventions and discoveries By Rodney P. Carlisle
* c. 1711: First blood pressure measurement and History of invasive and interventional cardiology, first cardiac catheterisation by Stephen Hales (1677–1761).
* 1763: Aspirin's active ingredient discovered by Edward Stone (clergyman), Edward Stone (1702–1768).
* 1770s: Isolation of fibrin, a key protein in the blood coagulation process; investigation of the structure of the lymphatic system; and description of red blood cells by surgeon William Hewson (surgeon), William Hewson (1739–1774), so-called "father of haematology".
* 1775: First demonstration that a cancer may be caused by an environmental carcinogen by Percivall Pott (1714–1788), also a founding father of orthopedy.
* 1794: Colour blindness first described in a paper titled "Extraordinary facts relating to the vision of colours" by John Dalton (1766–1844).
* 1798: Smallpox vaccine, the first successful vaccine to be developed, invented by Edward 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."
* 1800: Anaesthetic properties of nitrous oxide (entonox/"laughing gas") discovered by Humphry Davy (1778–1829).
* 1817: First description of (what would come to be called) Parkinson's disease in "An Essay on the Shaking Palsy" by James Parkinson (1755–1824).
* 1818 or 1829: First successful blood transfusion performed by James Blundell (physician), James Blundell (1791–1878).
* 1819: First accurate description of hay fever by John Bostock (physician), John Bostock (1773–1846).
* 1847: Ophthalmoscope conceived by Charles Babbage
Charles Babbage (; 26 December 1791 – 18 October 1871) was an English polymath. A mathematician, philosopher, inventor and mechanical engineer, Babbage originated the concept of a digital programmable computer.
Babbage is considered ...
(1791–1871).
* 1850s: Location of the source of cholera by pioneer of anaesthesia and "father of epidemiology" John Snow (physician), John Snow (1813–1858).
* 1850s: General anaesthetic pioneered by Englishman John Snow (physician), John Snow (1813–1858) and Scotsman James Young Simpson.
* 1850s onwards: Treatment of epilepsy pioneered by Edward Henry Sieveking (1816–1904).
* 1858: First publication of ''Gray's Anatomy'', widely regarded as the first complete human-anatomy textbook, by Henry Gray (1827–1861).
* 1860 onwards: Modern nursing pioneered by Florence Nightingale (1820–1910).
* 1867: Antiseptic, Antisepsis in surgery invented by Joseph Lister, 1st Baron Lister, Joseph Lister (1827–1912).
* 1867: Clinical thermometer devised by Thomas Clifford Allbutt (1836–1925).
* 1887: First practical Electrocardiography, ECG machine invented by Augustus Desiré Waller, Augustus Waller of St Mary's Hospital (London), St Mary's Hospital in London.
* 1898: The mosquito identified as the carrier of malaria by Sir Ronald Ross (1857–1932).
* 1901: Amino acid Tryptophan discovered by Frederick Gowland Hopkins (1861–1947).
* 1902: First typhoid vaccine developed by Almroth Wright (1861–1947).
* 1912: Vitamins discovered by Frederick Gowland Hopkins (1861–1947).
* 1915: Acetylcholine (ACh) identified by Sir Henry Hallett Dale (1875–1968) for its action on heart tissue.
* 1937 onwards: Protein crystallography developed by Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin (1910–1994); Hodgkin solved the structures of cholesterol (1937), penicillin (1946), and vitamin B12 (1956), for which she was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1964; in 1969, she succeeded in solving the structure of insulin, on which she worked for over thirty years.
* 1937: Discovery of the Citric acid cycle ("Krebs Cycle") by German-born (Naturalization, naturalised) British physician and biochemist Hans Adolf Krebs (1900–1981) at the University of Sheffield.
* 1940s: Groundbreaking research on the use of penicillin in the treatment of venereal disease carried out in London by Jack Suchet (1908–2001) with Scottish scientist Sir Alexander Fleming.
* 1941: Crucial first steps in the mass production of penicillin made by Norman Heatley (1911–2004).
* 1949: Diagnostic ultrasound first used to assess the thickness of bowel tissue by English-born physicist John J. Wild (1914–2009), so-called "father of medical ultrasound".
* 1949–1950: Artificial intraocular lens transplant surgery for cataract patients developed by Harold Ridley (ophthalmologist), Harold Ridley (1906–2001).
* Late 1950s: Peak flow meter, Peak Flow Meter invented by Martin Wright (bioengineer), Martin Wright (1912–2001), also the creator of the Syringe driver, Syringe Driver.
* 1960 onwards: The hip replacement operation (in which a stainless steel stem and 22mm head fit into a polymer socket and both parts are fixed into position by Poly(methyl methacrylate), PMMA cement) pioneered by John Charnley (1911–1982).
* 1960s: First use of sodium cromoglycate for asthma Preventive healthcare, prophylaxis associated with Roger Altounyan (1922–1987).
* 1967 onwards: Computed Tomography and first commercial CT scanner invented by Sir Godfrey Hounsfield (1919–2004) in Hayes, Middlesex
Hayes is a town in west London, historically situated within the county of Middlesex, and now part of the London Borough of Hillingdon. The town's population, including its localities Hayes End, Harlington and Yeading, was recorded as 83,564 ...
, at EMI Central Research Laboratories.
* 1969–1978: Development of in vitro fertilisation (IVF) by Patrick Christopher Steptoe (1913–1988) and Robert Geoffrey Edwards (1925–2013).
* Late 1970s: Echo-planar imaging (EPI) technique, a contribution to the development of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), developed by Sir Peter Mansfield (born 1933).
* 1980: Potential of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in treating a wide range of genetic diseases, among other breakthroughs, discovered by John Raymond Hobbs (1929–2008).
* 1981: Discovery of how to culture embryonic stem cells credited to England-born biologist Martin Evans (born 1941).
* 1993: Viagra (a.k.a. Sildenafil – compound UK-92,480) synthesised by a group of pharmaceutical chemists working at Pfizer's Sandwich, 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.
* 2009: First baby genetically selected to be free of a breast cancer born at University College Hospital.
* 2014: The "Mom incubator", an Inflatable Neonatal intensive care unit#Incubator, incubator for reducing mortality rates in Preterm birth, premature babies, invented by James Roberts.
Military
* 1718: The Puckle Gun or ''Defence Gun'', a multi-shot gun mounted on a tripod, invented by James Puckle (1667–1724).
* 1784: Shrapnel shell, an anti-personnel artillery munition, developed by Henry Shrapnel (1761–1842).
* 1804: The Congreve rocket, a weapon, invented by Sir William Congreve (inventor), William Congreve (1772–1828).
* 1830s: The Fuse (explosives), safety fuse invented by William Bickford (1774–1834), William Bickford (1774–1834).
* 1854: The Whitworth rifle, often called the "sharpshooter" because of its accuracy and considered one of the earliest examples of a sniper rifle, invented by Sir Joseph Whitworth
Sir Joseph Whitworth, 1st Baronet (21 December 1803 – 22 January 1887) was an English engineer, entrepreneur, inventor and philanthropist. In 1841, he devised the British Standard Whitworth system, which created an accepted standard for scre ...
(1803–1887).
* 1854–1857: The Armstrong Gun, a uniquely designed field and heavy gun, developed by Sir William Armstrong, 1st Baron Armstrong, William Armstrong (1810–1900).
* 1866: First effective self-propelled naval torpedo invented by Robert Whitehead (1823–1905).
* 1875: The side by side boxlock action, commonly used in double barreled shotguns, invented by William Anson and John Deeley for the Westley Richards company of Birmingham.
* 1884: The Maxim gun, the first self-powered machine gun invented by Sir Hiram Maxim (1840–1916); American-born, Maxim moved from the United States to England in 1881, becoming a (Naturalization, naturalised) British subject. The Maxim gun was financed by Albert Vickers of Vickers Limited and produced in Hatton Garden, London. It has been called "the weapon most associated with British imperial conquest".
* 1891: Cordite, first of the "smokeless powders" which came into general use towards the end of the 19th century, invented by Englishman Frederick Abel (1827–1902) and Scot James Dewar.
* 1901: Bullpup firearm configuration first used in the Thorneycroft carbine rifle, developed by an English gunsmith as patent No. 14,622 of July 18, 1901.
* 1906: The Dreadnought battleship, the predominant type of battleship in the early 20th century, credited to First Sea Lord Admiral John Fisher, 1st Baron Fisher, John "Jackie" Fisher (1841–1920).
* 1914: First operational fighter aircraft, the Vickers F.B.5 (a.k.a. th "Gunbus"), developed from a design by Archibald Low (1888–1956).
* 1916: The tank developed and first used in combat by the British during Tanks in World War I, World War I as a means to break the deadlock of trench warfare. Key co-inventors include Major Walter Gordon Wilson (1874–1957) and Sir William Tritton (1875–1946).
* 1916: The first effective depth charge, an anti-submarine warfare weapon, developed from a design by Herbert Taylor at the RN Torpedo and Mine School, HMS Vernon (shore establishment), HMS ''Vernon''.
* 1916: The Livens Projector, a weapon, created by William Howard Livens (1889–1964).
* 1917: Dazzle camouflage created by Norman Wilkinson (artist), Norman Wilkinson (1878–1971).
* 1917: ASDIC active sonar, the first practical underwater active sound-detection apparatus, developed by Canadian physicist Robert William Boyle and English physicist Albert Beaumont Wood (1890–1964).
* 1940s: High-explosive squash head, a type of ammunition, invented by Sir Charles Dennistoun Burney (1888–1968).
* 1941: The Fairbairn–Sykes fighting knife invented by William Ewart Fairbairn (1885–1960) and Eric A. Sykes (1883–1945).
* 1941–1942: The Bailey bridge – a type of portable, Prefabrication, pre-fabricated, truss bridge – invented by Donald Bailey (civil engineer), Donald Bailey (1901–1985). Field Marshal Montgomery emphasised the importance of the Bailey bridge in Britain winning the war.
* 1943: The bouncing bomb invented by Barnes Wallis (1887–1979).
* 1943: H2S radar (airborne radar to aid bomb targeting) invented by Alan Blumlein
Alan Dower Blumlein (29 June 1903 – 7 June 1942) was an English electronics engineer, notable for his many inventions in telecommunications, sound recording, stereophonic sound, television and radar. He received 128 patents and was considered o ...
(1903–1942). Blumlein died in a plane crash during a secret trial of the H2S system.
* 1950: The Aircraft catapult, steam catapult, a device used to launch aircraft from aircraft carriers, developed by Commander Colin C. Mitchell Royal Naval Reserve, RNR.
* 1960s: Chobham armour, a type of vehicle armour, developed by a team headed by Gilbert Harvey of the Fighting Vehicles Research and Development Establishment, FVRDE at the tank research centre on Chobham Common, Surrey.
* 1960: Harrier jump jet developed by Hawker Aircraft of Kingston upon Thames following an approach by the Bristol Aeroplane Company in 1957.
* Late 1970s: Stun grenades developed by the British Army, British Army's Special Air Service, SAS.
Mining
* 1712: The Newcomen atmospheric engine, Newcomen Engine invented byThomas Newcomen
Thomas Newcomen (; February 1664 – 5 August 1729) was an English inventor who created the atmospheric engine, the first practical fuel-burning engine in 1712. He was an ironmonger by trade and a Baptist lay preacher by calling.
He ...
(1664–1729); from c. 1705 Newcomen was first to use a Beam engine to pump water from mines.
* 1815: The Davy lamp, a safety lamp, invented by Humphry Davy (1778–1829).
* 1815: The Geordie lamp, a safety lamp, invented by George Stephenson (1781–1848).
Musical instruments
* 1695: Northumbrian smallpipes (a.k.a. Northumbrian pipes) associated withNorthumberland
Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey.
It is bordered by land ...
and Tyne and Wear.
* 1711: The Tuning fork invented by John Shore (trumpeter), John Shore (c. 1662–1752).
* 1798: The harp lute invented by Edward Light (c. 1747-c. 1832); Light patented the instrument in 1816.
* Early 19th century: The Irish flute is not an instrument indigenous to Ireland; a key figure in its development was English inventor and flautist Charles Nicholson (flautist), Charles Nicholson (1775–1810).
* 1829: The concertina invented by Charles Wheatstone (1802–1875).
* Early 20th century: The theatre organ developed by Robert Hope-Jones (1859–1914).
* 1870: Carbon microphone, invented by David Edward Hughes.
* 1968: The logical bassoon, an electronically controlled version of the bassoon, developed by Giles Brindley (born 1926).
Photography
* Before 1800: Method of copying images chemically to permanent media devised by Thomas Wedgwood (photographer), Thomas Wedgwood (1771–1805).
* 1838: The Stereoscope, a device for displaying three-dimensional images, invented by Charles Wheatstone (1802–1875).
* 1840: Calotype or ''Talbotype'' invented by William Fox Talbot (1800–1877).
* 1850s: The Collodion process, an early photographic process, invented by Frederick Scott Archer (1813–1857).
* 1850s: The Ambrotype invented by Frederick Scott Archer (1813–1857) and Peter Wickens Fry (1795–1860).
* 1861: The Collodion-albumen process, an early dry plate process, invented by Joseph Sidebotham (father of Joseph Watson Sidebotham).
* 1871: The dry plate process, the first economically successful and durable photographic medium, invented by Richard Leach Maddox (1816–1902).
* 1878: ''The Horse in Motion'' or ''Sallie Gardner at a Gallop'', a precursor to the development of Film, motion pictures, created by Eadweard Muybridge (1830–1904).
* 1879: The Zoopraxiscope, which may be considered the first movie projector, created by Eadweard Muybridge (1830–1904).
* 1880s: Method of intensifying Photographic plate, plates with Mercury(II) iodide, mercuric iodide devised by B. J. Edwards (1838–1914); Edwards pioneered also the construction and design of instantaneous Shutter (photography), shutters.
* 1887: Celluloid Film, motion pictures created by William Friese-Greene (1855–1921).
* 1906: Kinemacolor, the first successful colour motion picture process, invented by George Albert Smith (inventor), George Albert Smith (1864–1959).
Publishing firsts
* 1475: First book printed in the English language, ''Recuyell of the Historyes of Troye'', by William Caxton (c. 1422–c. 1491); eighteen copies survive.
* 1534: Cambridge University Press granted letters patent by Henry VIII; continuous operation since makes it the world's oldest publisher and printer.
* 1535: First complete printed translation of the Bible into English produced by Myles Coverdale (1488–1569).
* 1665: ''Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, Philosophical Transactions'', the first journal exclusively devoted to science, established by the Royal Society of London; it is also the world's longest-running scientific journal.
* British Raj period: the first definite map of India drawn by English cartographers.
* Mid-19th century: First noted journal club by English surgeon James Paget, Sir James Paget (1814–1899); recalling in his memoirs time spent at St. 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 the Scientific journal, journals."
* 1893: Benjamin Daydon Jackson prepares the first volume of ''Index Kewensis'', first publication aiming to register all botanical names for seed plants at the rank of species and Genus, genera.
Science
Physics
* 1600: Recognition that the earth was a giant magnet, by William Gilbert (1544–1603) in his six-book work ''De Magnete''; ''De Magnete'' was known all over Europe, and was almost certainly an influence on Galileo Galilei, Galileo.
* 1660: Hooke's Law (equation describing elasticity) proposed by Robert Hooke
Robert Hooke FRS (; 18 July 16353 March 1703) was an English polymath active as a scientist, natural philosopher and architect, who is credited to be one of two scientists to discover microorganisms in 1665 using a compound microscope that ...
(1635–1703).
* 1666–1675: Theories on optics proposed by Sir Isaac Newton (1642–1726/7); Newton published ''Opticks'' in 1704.
* 1687: Law of Newton's law of universal gravitation, universal gravitation formulated in the ''Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica, Principia'' by Sir Isaac Newton (1642–1726/7).
* 1687: Newton's laws of motion formulated in the ''Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica, Principia''.
* 1800: Infrared#Human history, Infrared radiation discovered by Sir William Herschel (1738–1822).
* 1802: Theory on physiological basis of Color vision, colour vision proposed by Thomas Young (scientist), Thomas Young (1773–1829).
* 1803–1807: Evidence for a wave theory of light discovered by Thomas Young (scientist), Thomas Young (1773–1829).
* 1823: Electromagnet invented by William Sturgeon (1783–1850).
* 1831: Discovery that electric current could be generated by altering magnetic fields (the principle underlying modern Electricity generation, power generation) by Michael Faraday
Michael Faraday (; 22 September 1791 – 25 August 1867) was an English scientist who contributed to the study of electromagnetism and electrochemistry. His main discoveries include the principles underlying electromagnetic inducti ...
(1791–1867).
* 1845: Proposition that light and electromagnetism are related by Michael Faraday
Michael Faraday (; 22 September 1791 – 25 August 1867) was an English scientist who contributed to the study of electromagnetism and electrochemistry. His main discoveries include the principles underlying electromagnetic inducti ...
(1791–1867).
* 1845–1847: Demonstration that electric circuits obey the law of the conservation of energy and that electricity is a form of energy (First Law of Thermodynamics) by James Prescott Joule, James Joule (1818–1889); the unit of energy the Joule is named after him.
* 1871 and 1885: Discovery of the phenomenon Rayleigh scattering (which can be used to explain why the sky is blue), and prediction of the existence of surface waves by John Strutt, 3rd Baron Rayleigh (1842–1919).
* 1897: Discovery of the electron by J. J. Thomson (1856–1940).
* 1911: Discovery of the Rutherford model of the Atom by Ernest Rutherford (1871–1937).
* 1912: Invention of the mass spectrometer by J. J. Thomson (1856–1940).
* 1912: Bragg's law and the field of X-ray crystallography, an important tool for elucidating the crystal structure of substances, discovered by William Henry Bragg (1862–1942) and William Lawrence Bragg (1890–1971).
* 1913: Discovery of isotopes by J. J. Thomson (1856–1940).
* 1917: Discovery of the Proton by Ernest Rutherford (1871–1937).
* 1924: Edward Victor Appleton awarded Nobel Prize in Physics in 1947 for proving the existence of the ionosphere during experiments carried out in 1924.
* 1928: Existence of antimatter predicted by Paul Dirac (1902–1984); Dirac made major contributions to the development of quantum mechanics.
* 1932: Splitting the atom, a fully artificial nuclear reaction and nuclear transmutation, first achieved by English physicist John Cockcroft (1897–1967) and Ireland's Ernest Walton.
* 1932: Discovery of the Neutron by James Chadwick (1891–1974).
* 1935: Possibility of Radar
Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance (''ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, Marine radar, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor v ...
first proven in the "Daventry experiment" by Englishman Arnold Frederic Wilkins (1907–1985) and Scot Robert Watson-Watt
Sir Robert Alexander Watson Watt (13 April 1892 – 5 December 1973) was a Scottish pioneer of radio direction finding and radar technology.
Watt began his career in radio physics with a job at the Met Office, where he began looking for accura ...
.
* 1947: Holography invented in Rugby, England by Hungarian-British Dennis Gabor (1900–1979; fled from Nazi Germany in 1933). The medium was improved by Nicholas J. Phillips (1933–2009), who made it possible to record multi-colour reflection holograms.
* 1947: Discovery of the pion (pi-meson) by Cecil Frank Powell (1903–1969).
* 1964: The Higgs boson, an elementary particle implied by the Higgs mechanism, Higgs field, proposed by Peter Higgs (born 1929) and others to explain why fundamental particles (which are theoretically Weightlessness, weightless) might have acquired mass after their formation in the Big Bang.
* 1974: Hawking radiation predicted by Stephen Hawking (1942–2018).
Chemistry
*Anglo-Saxon times: Anglo-Saxon goldsmiths used a process similar to Cementation (metallurgy), cementation; as evidenced by the Staffordshire hoard.
*1665: Correct theory of combustion first outlined in ''Micrographia'' by Robert Hooke
Robert Hooke FRS (; 18 July 16353 March 1703) was an English polymath active as a scientist, natural philosopher and architect, who is credited to be one of two scientists to discover microorganisms in 1665 using a compound microscope that ...
(1635–1703); Hooke observed that something (known now as oxygen) is taken from the air and that in its absence combustion quickly ceases, however much heat is applied.
*1766: Hydrogen discovered by Henry Cavendish (1731–1810); Cavendish described it as a colourless, odourless gas that burns and can form an explosive mixture with air.
*1775: Oxygen discovered by Joseph Priestley (1733–1804); Priestley called it "dephlogisticated air".
*1791: William Gregor (25 December 1761 – 11 June 1817) discovered the elemental metal titanium.
*1801: Charles Hatchett FRS (2 January 1765 – 10 March 1847[1]) discovered the element niobium.
*1803: William Hyde Wollaston PRS (6 August 1766 – 22 December 1828) discovered the chemical element rhodium.
*1803: William Hyde Wollaston PRS (6 August 1766 – 22 December 1828) discovered the chemical element palladium.
*1803: Smithson Tennant FRS (30 November 1761 – 22 February 1815) discovered the element iridium.
*1803: Smithson Tennant FRS (30 November 1761 – 22 February 1815) discovered the element osmium.
*1803: Modern atomic theory developed by John Dalton (1766–1844). See also Dalton's law and Law of multiple proportions; Dalton is considered the father of modern chemistry.
*1807: Sodium isolated by Sir Humphry Davy (1778–1829).
*1807: Potassium isolated by Sir Humphry Davy (1778–1829).
*1808: Calcium isolated by Sir Humphry Davy (1778–1829).
*1808: Strontium isolated by Sir Humphry Davy (1778–1829).
*1808: Barium isolated by Sir Humphry Davy (1778–1829).
*1808: Magnesium isolated by Sir Humphry Davy (1778–1829).
*1808: Boron isolated by Sir Humphry Davy (1778–1829).
*1810: Elemental nature of Chlorine discovered by Sir Humphry Davy (1778–1829).
*1813: Elemental nature of Iodine discovered by Sir Humphry Davy (1778–1829).
*1825: Benzene, the first known aromatic hydrocarbon, isolated and identified by Michael Faraday
Michael Faraday (; 22 September 1791 – 25 August 1867) was an English scientist who contributed to the study of electromagnetism and electrochemistry. His main discoveries include the principles underlying electromagnetic inducti ...
(1791–1867).
*1861: Thallium discovered by William Crookes (1832–1919).
*1865: Periodic Table devised by John Alexander Reina Newlands, John Newlands (1837–1898); his History of the periodic table, Law of Octaves was a precursor to the Periodic Law.
*1868: Helium discovered in the sun (via spectroscopy) by Norman Lockyer (1836–1920); not until ten years later was it found on earth.
*1868: Synthesis of coumarin (one of the first synthetic perfumes), and cinnamic acid via the Perkin reaction by William Henry Perkin
Sir William Henry Perkin (12 March 1838 – 14 July 1907) was a British chemist and entrepreneur best known for his serendipitous discovery of the first commercial synthetic organic dye, mauveine, made from aniline. Though he failed in trying ...
(1838–1907).
*1893: The Weston cell developed by England-born chemist Edward Weston (chemist), Edward Weston (1850–1936).
*1894: Argon discovered by English physicist John Strutt, 3rd Baron Rayleigh (1842–1919) and Scot William Ramsay.
*1898: Morris Travers was an English chemist who with scot Sir William Ramsay discovered xenon, neon and krypton.
*1901: Silicone discovered and named by Frederic Kipping (1863–1949); according to the Chemical nomenclature, nomenclature of modern chemistry, ''silicone'' is no longer the correct term, but it remains in common usage.
*1913: Concept of atomic number introduced by Henry Moseley (1887–1915) in order to fix the inadequacies of Dmitri Mendeleev, Mendeleev's periodic table, which had been based on atomic weight. 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."
*1913: Existence of isotopes first proposed by Frederick Soddy (1877–1956).
*1940s / 1950s: Partition chromatography developed by Richard Laurence Millington Synge (1914–1994) and Archer J.P. Martin (1910–2002).
*1950: VX (nerve agent) invented by Ranajit Ghosh at Porton Down, VX (nerve agent) is the world's most deadly chemical compounds. It only takes 10 milligrams to become a fatal dose.
*1952: Structure of ferrocene discovered by Geoffrey Wilkinson (1921–1996) and others.
*1959: First practical Alkaline fuel cell, hydrogen–oxygen fuel cell developed by Francis Thomas Bacon (1904–1992).
*1962: First noble gas compound, xenon hexafluoroplatinate, prepared by Neil Bartlett (chemist), Neil Bartlett (1932–2008).
*1985: Buckminsterfullerene discovered by Sir Harry Kroto (born 1939).
Biology
* 1665: Cell biology originated by Robert Hooke
Robert Hooke FRS (; 18 July 16353 March 1703) was an English polymath active as a scientist, natural philosopher and architect, who is credited to be one of two scientists to discover microorganisms in 1665 using a compound microscope that ...
(1635–1703), who discovered the first Cell (biology), cells in the course of describing the microscopic compartments within cork.
* Early 19th century: the first recognition of what fossils were by Mary Anning.
* 1839: The identification and discovery of 150 mosses, lichens, liverworts, flowering plants and algae on the Kerguelen Islands by botanist Joseph Dalton Hooker. He later said of his gatherings "many of my best little lichens were gathered by hammering out the turfs or sitting on them till they thawed."
* 1855: The discovery of the first coal ball by Joseph Dalton Hooker who later on with partner William Binney made the first scientific description of coal balls.
* 1859: Theories of evolution by natural selection and sexual selection set out in ''On the Origin of Species'' by Charles Darwin (1809–1882).
* 1883: The practice of Eugenics developed by Sir Francis Galton
Sir Francis Galton, FRS FRAI (; 16 February 1822 – 17 January 1911), was an English Victorian era polymath: a statistician, sociologist, psychologist, Anthropology, anthropologist, tropical Exploration, explorer, geographer, Inventio ...
(1822–1911), applying his half-cousin Charles Darwin's theory of evolution to humans.
* 1953: Double-helix structure of DNA determined by Englishman Francis Crick (1906–2004) and American James D. Watson, James Watson. Crick was a pioneer in the field of molecular biology.
* 1958: the first cloning of an animal, a frog using intact Cell nucleus, nuclei from the somatic cells of a Xenopus tadpole by Sir John Gurdon.
* 1950 onward: the pioneering of the use of Xenopus eggs to translate microinjected messenger RNA molecules by Sir John 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 of Common chimpanzee, chimpanzees (our closest relatives in the animal kingdom) conducted by Jane Goodall (born 1934).
* 1977: DNA sequencing by chain termination developed by Frederick Sanger (1918–2013). Sanger won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry twice.
* 1977: Discovery of introns in eukaryotic DNA and the mechanism of Alternative splicing, gene-splicing by Richard J. Roberts (born 1943).
* 1996: Dolly the Sheep born as a result of Nuclear transfer, a form of cloning put into practice by Ian Wilmut (born 1944) and Keith Campbell (biologist), Keith Campbell (1954–2012).
* 2016: Scientists at the British bio-tech company Oxitec, in an attempt to stop the spread of dengue 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 the Grand Cayman Islands and after three months 80% of the population of mosquitos in the target area had vanished.
Mathematics and statistics
* 1630–1632: The slide rule invented by William Oughtred (1574–1660), developing on work by Edmund Gunter (1581–1626) and Edmund Wingate (1596–1656).
* 1631: The "x" symbol for multiplication and the abbreviations "sin" and "cos" for the sine and cosine functions devised by William Oughtred (1574–1660) in ''Clavis Mathematicae'' (The Key to Mathematics).
* 1631: The symbols for "is less than" and "is greater than", along with other innovations, devised in the posthumously published algebra text ''Artis Analyticae Praxis'' by Thomas Harriot (c. 1560–1621).
* 1687: Calculus developed by Sir Isaac Newton (1642–1726/7), as set out in his ''Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica, Principia Mathematica''.
* 1763 onwards: Key contributions made to the development of statistics by: Thomas Bayes (c. 1701–1761) (''Bayes' theorem''); Florence Nightingale (1820–1910) (''statistical graphics''); Francis Galton
Sir Francis Galton, FRS FRAI (; 16 February 1822 – 17 January 1911), was an English Victorian era polymath: a statistician, sociologist, psychologist, Anthropology, anthropologist, tropical Exploration, explorer, geographer, Inventio ...
(1822–1911) (''standard deviation'', ''correlation'', ''regression analysis, regression'', ''questionnaires''); Karl Pearson (1857–1936) (''Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient, correlation coefficient'', ''Pearson's chi-squared test, chi-square''); William Sealy Gosset, William Gosset (1876–1937) (''Student's t-distribution''); Ronald Fisher (1890–1962) (''Analysis of variance''); Frank Yates (1902–1994).
* 1854: Boolean algebra
In mathematics and mathematical logic, Boolean algebra is a branch of algebra. It differs from elementary algebra in two ways. First, the values of the variables are the truth values ''true'' and ''false'', usually denoted 1 and 0, whereas i ...
, the basis for Logic gate, digital logic, proposed by George Boole
George Boole (; 2 November 1815 – 8 December 1864) was a largely self-taught English mathematician, philosopher, and logician, most of whose short career was spent as the first professor of mathematics at Queen's College, Cork in ...
(1815–1864).
* 1876: Connection between energy, matter and the curvature of space proposed in ''s:On the Space-Theory of Matter'' by William Kingdon Clifford (1845–1879), forty years before Albert Einstein, Einstein's General relativity, general theory of relativity.
* c. 1880: The Venn diagram devised by John Venn (1834–1923).
* 1884: Reformulation of Maxwell's equations into the four we know now by Oliver Heaviside
Oliver Heaviside FRS (; 18 May 1850 – 3 February 1925) was an English self-taught mathematician and physicist who invented a new technique for solving differential equations (equivalent to the Laplace transform), independently develope ...
(1850–1925).
* 1901: Discipline of modern mathematical statistics developed by Karl Pearson (1857–1936).
Astronomy
* 1609: First drawing of the Moon through a telescope by Thomas Harriot (c. 1560 – 1621); Harriot achieved this on 26 July 1609: over four months before Galileo Galilei, Galileo.
* 1610: Sunspots discovered by Thomas Harriot (c. 1560–1621).
* 1668: Newtonian telescope invented by Sir Isaac Newton (1642–1727).
* 1705: Periodic comet, Periodicity of Halley's Comet determined by Edmond Halley (1656–1742).
* 1712–1717: The Planetarium created by French-born Briton John Theophilus Desaguliers (1683–1784).
* 1758: Achromatic doublet lens patented by John Dollond (1706–1761).
* 1781: Discovery of the planet Uranus by Sir William Herschel (1738–1822); Herschel also discovered the moons Titania (moon), Titania (1787), Oberon (moon), Oberon (1787), Enceladus (moon), Enceladus (1789), and Mimas (moon), Mimas (1789).
* 1783: Existence of black holes first proposed by John Michell (1724–1793); Michell was first to suggest that binary stars, double stars might be attracted to each other (1767), and he invented the torsion balance (before 1783).
* 1843: Existence and position of Neptune predicted, using only mathematics, by John Couch Adams (1819–1892).
* 1845: Nature of spiral galaxies discovered by William Parsons, 3rd Earl of Rosse (1800–1867).
* 1846: Discovery of Triton (moon), Triton by William Lassell (1799–1880); Lassell also discovered the moons Hyperion (moon), Hyperion (1848), Ariel (moon), Ariel (1851), and Umbriel (moon), Umbriel (1851).
* 1924: The Eddington limit – the natural limit to the luminosity of stars, or the radiation generated by accretion onto a compact object – discovered by Sir Arthur Stanley Eddington (1882–1944).
* 1930s–1950s: Important contributions to the development of radio astronomy made by Bernard Lovell (1913–2012).
* 1946–1954: Pioneering theories of Nucleosynthesis (the formation of chemical elements in stars and supernova) proposed by Sir Fred Hoyle (1915–2001); in 1949, Hoyle coined the term "Big Bang".
* 1966 onwards: Important contributions to cosmology and (from 1973)quantum gravity made by Stephen Hawking (born 1942), especially in the context of black holes.
* 1967: Pulsars discovered by English Radio astronomy, radio astronomer Antony Hewish (born 1924) and one of his graduate students, Northern Irish Jocelyn Bell Burnell, Jocelyn Bell.
* Late 1960s / early 1970s: Aperture synthesis, used for accurate location and imaging of weak radio sources in the field of radio astronomy, developed by Martin Ryle (1918–1984) and Antony Hewish (born 1924).
Geology and meteorology
* 1802: Clouds, Nomenclature system for clouds developed by meteorology pioneer Luke Howard (1772–1864). * 1815: First geological map of Great Britain created by William Smith (geologist), William Smith (1769–1839); Smith is responsible, as well, for the observation that fossils can be used to work out the relative ages of rocks and strata (Principle of Faunal Succession). * 1820: The dew-point hygrometer, an instrument used for measuring the moisture content in the atmosphere, invented by John Frederic Daniell (1790–1845). * 1820s: Scientific study of dinosaurs initiated by Gideon Mantell (1790–1852). * 1861: First weather map created byFrancis Galton
Sir Francis Galton, FRS FRAI (; 16 February 1822 – 17 January 1911), was an English Victorian era polymath: a statistician, sociologist, psychologist, Anthropology, anthropologist, tropical Exploration, explorer, geographer, Inventio ...
(1822–1911).
* 1880: The Seismograph, for detecting and measuring the strength of earthquakes, invented by John Milne (1850–1913).
* 1911 onwards: Geochronology pioneered by Arthur Holmes (1890–1965).
* 1938–1964: The Callendar effect, a theory linking rising carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere to global temperature (Global warming), proposed by Guy Stewart Callendar (1898–1964).
Philosophy of science
* c. 1240s: An early framework for the scientific method, based in Aristotle, Aristotelian commentaries, proposed by English statesman, scientist and Christian theologian Robert Grosseteste (c. 1175–1253). * 1267: Early form of the scientific method articulated in ''Opus Majus'' by Roger Bacon (c. 1214?-c. 1292?). * 1620: Baconian method, a forerunner of the scientific method, proposed in the ''Novum Organum'' by SirFrancis Bacon
Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Alban (; 22 January 1561 – 9 April 1626), also known as Lord Verulam, was an English philosopher and statesman who served as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England. Bacon led the advancement of both ...
(1561–1626).
* 1892: Scope and method of science proposed in ''The Grammar of Science'' by Karl Pearson (1857–1936); the book was a pivotal influence on the young Albert Einstein and contained several ideas that were later to become part of his theories.
Scientific instruments
* 1630–1632: The slide rule invented by William Oughtred (1574–1660), developing on work by Edmund Gunter (1581–1626) and Edmund Wingate (1596–1656). * 1630s: The Micrometer (device), micrometer invented by William Gascoigne (scientist), William Gascoigne (1612–1644). * 1665: Compound microscope with 30x magnification developed byRobert Hooke
Robert Hooke FRS (; 18 July 16353 March 1703) was an English polymath active as a scientist, natural philosopher and architect, who is credited to be one of two scientists to discover microorganisms in 1665 using a compound microscope that ...
(1635–1703); Hooke published ''Micrographia'' in 1665.
* 1668: The marine barometer invented by Robert Hooke
Robert Hooke FRS (; 18 July 16353 March 1703) was an English polymath active as a scientist, natural philosopher and architect, who is credited to be one of two scientists to discover microorganisms in 1665 using a compound microscope that ...
(1635–1703).
* 1677: The Coggeshall slide rule, a.k.a. the carpenter's slide rule, invented by Henry Coggeshall (1623–1691).
* 1763: Triple achromatic lens invented by Peter Dollond (1731–1820).
* 1784: The Atwood machine, for demonstrating the law of uniformly accelerated motion, invented by George Atwood (1745–1807).
* c. 1805: First bench micrometer – the "Lord Chancellor", capable of measuring to one ten-thousandth of an inch – invented by Henry Maudslay
Henry Maudslay ( pronunciation and spelling) (22 August 1771 – 14 February 1831) was an English machine tool innovator, tool and die maker, and inventor. He is considered a founding father of machine tool technology. His inventions were ...
(1771–1831), a founding father of machine tool technology.
* 1833: Wheatstone bridge invented by Samuel Hunter Christie (1784–1865); improved and popularised in 1843 by Charles Wheatstone (1802–1875).
* 1972: The Sinclair Executive
The Sinclair Executive was the world's first "slimline" pocket calculator, and the first to be produced by Clive Sinclair's company Sinclair Radionics. Introduced in 1972, there were at least two different versions of the Sinclair Executive, ...
, the world's first small electronic pocket calculator, invented by Sir Clive Sinclair
Sir Clive Marles Sinclair (30 July 1940 – 16 September 2021) was an English entrepreneur and inventor, best known for being a pioneer in the computing industry, and also as the founder of several companies that developed consumer electronic ...
(born 1940).
Sport
* Before 1299: Bowls or ''lawn bowls'' can be traced to 13th-century England. The world's oldest surviving bowling green is Southampton Old Bowling Green, first used in 1299.
* Late 15th century: Rounders developed from an older English game known as stoolball.
* Early 16th century: Modern boxing developed from bare-knuckle boxing or ''prizefighting'', a resurfacing of Ancient Greek boxing in England. The first recorded boxing match took place on 6 January 1681 in England, arranged by Christopher Monck, 2nd Duke of Albemarle (1653–1688).
* 1519: World's oldest sporting competition still running, the Kiplingcotes Derby horse-race, established; it has run annually since without a break.
* 1530s: Origin of real tennis played with Tennis racket, rackets, popularised by Henry VIII of England, Henry VIII.
* 1598: The earliest definite reference to cricket; the sport may arguably be traced further back to 1301 with written evidence of a game known as ''creag'' played by Edward II of England, Prince Edward, son of Edward I of England, Edward I (Longshanks).
* Aunt Sally, early 17th century.
* After 1660: Thoroughbred horseracing developed in 17th- and 18th-century England; royal support from Charles II of England, Charles II, a keen racegoer and owner, made horse-racing popular with the public.
* 1673: Oldest non-equine competition in England, the Scorton Arrow archery tournament, established in Scorton, North Yorkshire, Scorton, Yorkshire.
* 1715: Oldest Rowing (sport), rowing race in the world, Doggett's Coat and Badge established; the race on the River Thames has been held every year since 1715.
* 1744: Earliest description of baseball in ''A Little Pretty Pocket-Book'' by John Newbery (1713–1767); the first ''recorded game'' of "Bass-Ball" took place in 1749 in Surrey. William Bray (antiquary), William Bray (1736–1832) recorded a game of baseball on Easter Monday, 1755 in Guildford, Surrey; the game is considered to have been taken across the Atlantic by English emigrants.
* Early 19th century: Modern field hockey developed in English public schools; the first club was established in 1849 in Blackheath, London.
* 1820s: Ice hockey, a variant of field 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 his Arctic expeditions: "The game of hockey played on the ice was the morning sport" on Great Bear Lake.
* 1823 or 1824: Invention of Rugby football credited to William Webb Ellis (1806–1872).
* 1850: The format of the modern Olympic Games inspired by William Penny Brookes (1809–1895); see also the Cotswold Olimpick Games.
* c. 1850: A bowling machine for cricket named the Catapulta (a predecessor of the pitching machine) invented by Nicholas Felix, Nicholas "Felix" Wanostrocht (1804–1876).
* 1857: Sheffield F.C. formed by former public school pupils, making it the world's first and oldest Association football club, as acknowledged by The Football Association and FIFA.Encyclopedia of British Football by Richard Cox et al., Routledge, 2002 page 5
* 1867: Coconut shy in Kingston, Surrey.
* 1859–1865: Lawn tennis invented by Harry Gem (1819–1881) and Augurio Perera, a Spanish-born merchant and sportsman based in England.
* 1874–1875: Snooker invented by the British Army in India.
* 1874: Formal codification of the rules of modern Polo established by the Hurlingham Polo Association; polo had been introduced to England in 1834 by the 10th Hussars at Aldershot, 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.
* 1880 onwards: Modern rock climbing developed by Walter Parry Haskett Smith (1859–1946), so-called "father of rock climbing".
* 1880s: Table tennis or ''ping-pong'' originated in Victorian era, Victorian England as an indoor version of tennis; it was developed and played by the upper class as an after-dinner parlour game.
* 1888: Tiddlywinks patent application by London bank clerk Joseph Assheton Fincher (1863–1900); tiddlywinks originated as an adult parlour game in Victorian era, Victorian England.
* 1893–1897: Netball developed from early versions of women's basketball at Martina Bergman-Österberg, Madame Österberg's College in England.
* 1895: Rugby league created with the establishment of the Rugby Football League, Northern Rugby Football Union (NRFU) as a breakaway faction of England's Rugby Football Union (RFU).
* 1896: The dartboard-layout used in the game and professional competitive sport of Darts was devised by Lancashire carpenter Brian Gamlin (c. 1852–1903); Gamlin died before he could patent his idea.
* 1899: Mixed martial arts, Mixed martial art (MMA) Bartitsu invented by Edward William Barton-Wright (1860–1951).
* 1948: The first Paralympic games competition, originally the Stoke Mandeville Games, created in England by German-born (from 1945 Naturalization, naturalised) British neurologist Ludwig Guttmann (1899–1980).
* 1954: Sir Roger Bannister (1929–2018) ran the first sub-four-minute mile on 6 May 1954.
* 1979: First modern Bungee jumping, bungee jumps made from the Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol by members of the Oxford University Dangerous Sports Club.
Transport
Aviation
* 1799: Concept of the modern aeroplane as a Fixed-wing aircraft, fixed-wing flying machine with separate systems for lift, propulsion, and control set forth by Sir George Cayley
Sir George Cayley, 6th Baronet (27 December 1773 – 15 December 1857) was an English engineer, inventor, and aviator. He is one of the most important people in the history of aeronautics. Many consider him to be the first true scientific aer ...
(1773–1857); Cayley is one of the most important people in the history of Aeronautics and flight: he is sometimes called the "father of aviation".
* 1804: First glider aircraft, glider to carry a human being aloft designed by Sir George Cayley
Sir George Cayley, 6th Baronet (27 December 1773 – 15 December 1857) was an English engineer, inventor, and aviator. He is one of the most important people in the history of aeronautics. Many consider him to be the first true scientific aer ...
(1773–1857). Cayley discovered and identified the four aerodynamic forces of flight: weight, Lift (force), lift, Drag (physics), drag, and thrust; Modern aeroplane design is based on those discoveries, along with Camber (aerodynamics), cambered wings which Cayley also discovered.
* 1837: Pioneering contribution to parachute design made by Robert Cocking (1776–1837); aged 61, Cocking was the first person to be killed in a parachuting accident.
* 1844: Hale rockets, an improved version of the Congreve rocket design that introduced thrust vectoring, invented by William Hale (British inventor), William Hale (1797–1870).
* 1848: World's first powered flight (of 30 feet) achieved in Chard, Somerset with the Aerial Steam Carriage by John Stringfellow (1799–1883), 55 years before the Wright brothers; Stringfellow and William Samuel Henson (1812–1888) patented their invention in 1842.
* Late-19th century: The term "airport, air port" first used – to describe the port city Southampton, where some early flying boats landed.
* 1929: Turbojet, Turbojet engine single-handedly invented by Sir Frank Whittle (1907–1996).
* 1949: First commercial jet airliner, the de Havilland Comet, designed, developed and manufactured by de Havilland.
* 1954: First aircraft capable of supercruise, the English Electric Lightning, designed, developed and manufactured by English Electric.
* 1959: Aerospace engineer John Hodge (engineer), John Hodge (1929–2021) migrated to become part of NASA's Space Task Group, which was responsible for America's manned space programme, Project Mercury.
* 1960: VTOL (Vertical Take-Off and Landing) aircraft (most famously the Harrier jump jet, Harrier) invented by Gordon Lewis (engineer), Gordon Lewis (1924–2010), Ralph Hooper (1926–2022), Stanley Hooker (1907–1984) and Sydney Camm (1893–1966); the project developed on ideas by Frenchman Michel Wibault.
*1965: Concorde The world's first supersonic commercial aircraft (A joint development between British Airways, Air France) invented by James Arnot Hamilton, Sir James Hamilton (1923–2012); the project was manufactured by British Aircraft Corporation, BAC, Sud Aviation. It took Concorde three hours, fifteen minutes to fly from Heathrow Airport, London Heathrow to John F. Kennedy International Airport, New York JFK.
Railways
* 1825: Opening of the Stockton and Darlington Railway, the world's first operational steam locomotive, steam passenger railway; it was taken over by the North Eastern Railway (United Kingdom), North Eastern Railway in 1863. * 1830: Opening of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, the first inter-city steam-powered railway; the railway was absorbed by the Grand Junction Railway in 1845. * 1838: Opening of the first stretch of the Great Western Railway, from London Paddington station to (the original) Taplow railway station, Maidenhead station, engineered by Isambard Kingdom Brunel (1806–1859).Locomotives
* 1802: First full-scale railway steam locomotive built by Richard Trevithick (1771–1833). 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 Londoner Thomas Newcomen
Thomas Newcomen (; February 1664 – 5 August 1729) was an English inventor who created the atmospheric engine, the first practical fuel-burning engine in 1712. He was an ironmonger by trade and a Baptist lay preacher by calling.
He ...
(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 commercial viable.
* 1812: First commercially viable steam locomotive, the twin cylinder ''Salamanca (locomotive), Salamanca'', designed and built by Matthew Murray (1765–1826) of Holbeck.
* 1813: First practical steam locomotive to rely simply on the adhesion of iron wheels on iron rails, ''Puffing Billy (locomotive), Puffing Billy'', built by William Hedley (1779–1843).
* 1814: First successful Flange, flanged-wheel adhesion locomotive, the ''Blücher (locomotive), Blücher'', built by George Stephenson (1781–1848).
* 1824: First steam locomotive to carry passengers on a public rail-line, the ''Locomotion No. 1'', built by Robert Stephenson (1803–1859), son of George Stephenson.
* 1829: Stephenson's Rocket, Stephenson's ''Rocket'' built by George Stephenson (1781–1848) and his son Robert Stephenson (1803–1859); the ''Rocket'' 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.
* 1829: The ''Sans Pareil'', a less advanced competitor of Stephenson's Rocket, Stephenson's ''Rocket'', built by Timothy Hackworth (1786–1850).
* 1829: The ''Stourbridge Lion'', first steam locomotive to be operated in the United States, built by Foster, Rastrick and Company of Stourbridge, Worcestershire, now West Midlands; the manufacturing company was headed by James Foster (ironmaster), James Foster (1786–1853) and John Urpeth Rastrick (1780–1856).
* 1835: ''Der Adler'' the first steam locomotive in Germany. Built by George & Robert Stephenson in Newcastle.
* 1923: The ''LNER Class A3 4472 Flying Scotsman, Flying Scotsman'' built to a design by Sir Nigel Gresley (1876–1941); the ''Flying Scotsman'' was in 1934 the first steam locomotive to be authenticated at reaching in passenger service.
Other railway developments
* 1842: The Edmondson railway ticket invented by Thomas Edmondson (1792–1851); British Rail used Edmondson tickets until February 1990.
* 1852 onwards: Numerous inventions for railways by John Ramsbottom (engineer), John Ramsbottom (1814–1897), including: the split piston ring (1852), the Ramsbottom safety valve (1855), the Displacement lubricator (1860), and the Track pan, water trough (1860).
* 1863: Opening of the world's oldest underground railway, the London Underground, a.k.a. the Tube; the Tube is the oldest rapid transit system, and it was the first underground railway to operate electric locomotive, electric trains.
* Late 1940s: Maglev, the use of magnetic levitation to move vehicles without touching the ground, invented by Eric Laithwaite (1921–1997).
* 1981: The Advanced Passenger Train (APT), an experimental High-speed rail, high-speed train that pioneered tilting train, tilting, introduced by British Rail.
Roads
* 1804: The seat belt invented by Sir George Cayley
Sir George Cayley, 6th Baronet (27 December 1773 – 15 December 1857) was an English engineer, inventor, and aviator. He is one of the most important people in the history of aeronautics. Many consider him to be the first true scientific aer ...
(1773–1857).
* 1808: Tension-spoke wire wheels invented by Sir George Cayley
Sir George Cayley, 6th Baronet (27 December 1773 – 15 December 1857) was an English engineer, inventor, and aviator. He is one of the most important people in the history of aeronautics. Many consider him to be the first true scientific aer ...
(1773–1857).
* 1829: First practical steam fire engine invented by John Braithwaite (engineer), John Braithwaite the younger (1797–1880).
* 1834: The Hansom cab, a type of horse-drawn carriage, invented by Joseph Hansom (1803–1882).
* 1868: First traffic lights (manually operated and Gas lighting, gas-lit) installed outside London's Houses of Parliament; invented by J. P. Knight, John Peake Knight (1828–1886).
* c. 1870: "Ariel", a penny-farthing bicycle, developed by James Starley (1831–1881).
* 1876: The legal collection of 70,000 thousands seeds from the rubber bearing tree hevea brasiliensis which led to the discovery of the perfect growing climate and locations for rubber trees by Sir Henry Alexander Wickham. Most commercial rubber plants are descended from the seeds he took to Kew Gardens
* 1884:Thomas Parker claimed to have invented the first electric car.
* 1885: First commercially successful safety bicycle, "the Rover", developed by John Kemp Starley (1855–1901).
* 1901: Tarmacadam, Tarmac patented by Edgar Purnell Hooley (1860–1942).
* c. 1902: The invention of the Bowden cable popularly attributed to Sir Sir Frank Bowden, 1st Baronet, Frank Bowden (1848–1921), founder and owner of the Raleigh Bicycle Company.
* 1910: Opening of the oldest existing driving school and first formal driving tuition provider, the British School of Motoring, in Peckham, London.
* 1922: Horstmann suspension, a coil spring Suspension (vehicle), suspension system commonly used on western tanks, invented by Sidney Horstmann (1881–1962).
* 1926: First automated traffic lights in England deployed in Piccadilly Circus in 1926; outside of London, Wolverhampton was in 1927 the first British town to introduce automated traffic lights.
* 1934: The Cat's eye (road), Cat's eye, a Road safety, safety device used in road marking, invented by Percy Shaw (1890–1976).
* 1934: The Belisha beacon introduced by Leslie Hore-Belisha (1893–1957).
* 1962: First modern Formula One car, the Lotus 25, designed by Colin Chapman (1928–1982) for Team Lotus; the design incorporated the first fully stressed monocoque chassis to appear in automobile racing.
* 1985: The Sinclair C5, a one-person battery electric vehicle, invented by Sir Clive Sinclair
Sir Clive Marles Sinclair (30 July 1940 – 16 September 2021) was an English entrepreneur and inventor, best known for being a pioneer in the computing industry, and also as the founder of several companies that developed consumer electronic ...
(born 1940).
* 1997: World Land Speed Record, 1,228 km/h (763 mph), achieved by ThrustSSC, a jet engine, jet-propelled car designed and built in England. Project director: Richard Noble (born 1946); designed by Ron Ayers (born 1932), Glynne Bowsher and Jeremy Bliss; piloted by Andy Green (RAF officer), Andy Green (born 1962).
Sea
* 1578: The first submersible (a small, submarine-like vehicle) of whose construction there exists reliable information designed by Englishman William Bourne (mathematician), William Bourne (c. 1535–1582) in his book ''Inventions or Devises''; Dutchman Cornelius Drebbel put Bourne's concept into action in 1620.
* 1691: A diving 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 by Edmond Halley, Edmund Halley (1656–1742), best known for computing the orbit of Halley's Comet.
* c. 1730: The Octant (instrument), octant invented by English mathematician John Hadley (1682–1744); American optician Thomas Godfrey (inventor), Thomas Godfrey developed the instrument independently at approximately the same time.
* 1743: The "Whirling Speculum", a device used to locate the horizon in foggy or misty conditions, invented by John Serson (died 1744); Serson's Speculum can be seen as a precursor to the gyroscope.
* 1757: First Reflecting instrument, sextant made by John Bird (astronomer), John Bird (1709–1776), adapting the principle of John Hadley, Hadley's Octant (instrument), octant.
* 1785: The Lifeboat (rescue), lifeboat invented and patented by Lionel 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: The Transit (ship), Transit, a type of sailing vessel with a remarkable turn of speed, patented by Richard Hall Gower (1768–1833).
* 1835: The screw propeller invented and patented by Francis Pettit Smith (1808–1874).
* 1843: Launch of the SS Great Britain – the first steam-powered, screw propeller-driven passenger liner with an iron hull; designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel (1806–1859), it was at the time the largest ship afloat.
* 1876: Plimsoll Line devised by Samuel Plimsoll (1824–1898).
* 1878: First commercially successful closed-circuit Scuba diving, scuba designed and built by Henry Fleuss (1851–1932), a pioneer in the field of diving equipment.
* 1878–1879: Two early Victorian era, Victorian submarines, Resurgam I and Resurgam II, designed and built by George Garrett (inventor), George Garrett (1852–1902).
* 1894: The first steam turbine powered steamship, Turbinia (easily the fastest ship in the world at the time), designed by Anglo-Irish engineer Sir Charles Algernon Parsons
Sir Charles Algernon Parsons, (13 June 1854 – 11 February 1931) was an Anglo-Irish engineer, best known for his invention of the compound steam turbine, and as the eponym of C. A. Parsons and Company. He worked as an engineer on d ...
(1854–1931), and built in Newcastle upon Tyne.
* 1899–1901: Developments on the hydrofoil by shipbuilder John Isaac Thornycroft (1843–1928), from the concept of Italian Enrico Forlanini.
* 1912: World's first patent for an underwater echo ranging device (sonar) filed a month after the sinking of the ''RMS Titanic, Titanic'' by Lewis Fry Richardson (1881–1953).
* 1915: Research into solving the practical problems of submarine-detection by sonar led by Ernest Rutherford (1871–1937).
* 1955: The hovercraft invented by Sir Christopher Cockerell (1910–1999).
Miscellaneous
* 1286: First recorded use of the Halifax Gibbet, an early guillotine.
* Early 17th century: The closely cut Lawn, "English" lawn created in the Jacobean era, Jacobean epoch of History of gardening, gardening, as the garden and the lawn became places created first as walkways and social areas. The English lawn became a symbol of status of the aristocracy and gentry; it showed that the owner could afford to keep land that was not being used for a building or for food production.
* 1668: Earliest concept of a metric system proposed by John Wilkins (1614–1672) in ''An Essay towards a Real Character and a Philosophical Language''.
* 1706: World's first life insurance company, the Amicable Society for a Perpetual Assurance Office, Amicable Society, founded by William Talbot (bishop), William Talbot (1658–1730) and Sir Allen baronets, Thomas Allen, 2nd Baronet (c. 1648–1730).
* 1719: Oldest music-based arts festival, festival, the Three Choirs Festival, established.
* 1725: The modern History of the kilt, kilt, associated since the 19th century with Scottish culture, arguably invented by English Quakers, Quaker Thomas Rawlinson (industrialist), Thomas Rawlinson (dates not known).
* c. 1760: The jigsaw puzzle invented and commercialised by cartographer John Spilsbury (cartographer), John Spilsbury (1739–1769).
* 1767: The Carbonation, carbonated soft drink invented by Joseph Priestley (1733–1804).
* 1768–1770: The modern circus invented by Philip Astley (1742–1814) in Astley's Amphitheatre on Westminster Bridge Road in Lambeth.
* c. 1770–1780: The lorgnette (a pair of Glasses, spectacles with a handle, used to hold them in place) invented by George Adams (scientist, died 1773), George Adams the elder (c. 1709–1773) and subsequently illustrated in a work by his son George Adams (scientist, died 1795), George Adams the younger, ''An Essay on Vision, briefly explaining the fabric of the eye'' (1789).
* 1772: Oldest arts festival established in Norwich 1772.
* 1787: First glee club founded in Harrow School.
* 1797: The top hat arguably invented by English haberdasher John Hetherington (dates not known).
* 1798: Consequences of population growth identified by Thomas Robert Malthus (1766–1834) in ''An Essay on the Principle of Population''.
* 1798: Oldest police force in continuous operation, the Marine Police Force, formed by English seafarer John Harriott (sailor), John Harriott (1745–1817) and Scot Patrick Colquhoun; it merged with the nascentMetropolitan Police Service in 1839.
* 18th century – 19th century: The history of comics developed with innovations by William 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.
* 1811: The graphic telescope, a camera lucida, drawing aid with the power of a telescope, invented by water-colour painter Cornelius Varley (1781–1873).
* 1821: World's first modern nature reserve established by naturalist and explorer Charles Waterton (1782–1965); Waterton was described by David 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".
* 1824: Rubber balloon invented by Michael Faraday
Michael Faraday (; 22 September 1791 – 25 August 1867) was an English scientist who contributed to the study of electromagnetism and electrochemistry. His main discoveries include the principles underlying electromagnetic inducti ...
(1791–1867) during experiments with gases.
* 1824: First animal welfare society, the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, RSPCA, founded by a group of reformers including William Wilberforce.
* 1826: First effective friction match invented by John Walker (inventor), John Walker (1781–1859).
* 1829: Metropolitan Police Force founded by Home Secretary Sir Robert Peel; by 1857 all cities in the UK were obliged to form their own police forces.
* 1837 Egg-free custard by Alfred Bird
* 1840: Stamp collecting initiated by zoologist John Edward Gray (1800–1875); on 1 May 1840, the day the Penny Black first went on sale, Gray bought several with the intent to save them.
* 1844: The Rochdale Society of Equitable Pioneers founded in Lancashire. The Rochdale Principles are the foundation for thco-operative principles
on which co-ops around the world operate to this day. * 1844: YMCA (Young Men's Christian Association) founded in London by Sir George Williams (YMCA), George Williams (1821–1905), with the aim of putting Christian values into practice. * 1846: The Christmas 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. * 1851: Prime meridian established at Greenwich by Sir George Biddell Airy (1801–1892), Astronomer Royal from 1835 to 1881; Airy's line, the fourth Prime meridian (Greenwich), Greenwich Meridian, became the definitive, internationally recognised line in 1884.
* 1851: Revolutionary Modular design, modular, Prefabrication, prefabricated design, and use of Architectural glass, glass utilised in the building of the Crystal Palace of the Great Exhibition by Joseph Paxton (1803–1865); after the exhibition, the Crystal Palace was moved to Sydenham, London, Sydenham where it was destroyed in a fire in 1936.
* 1851: Steel-ribbed umbrella developed by Samuel Fox (industrialist), Samuel Fox (1815–1887).
* 1860: Linoleum invented by Frederick Walton (1834–1928).
* 1865: The Salvation Army, a Christian denomination, Christian denominational church and international charitable organization, charitable organisation, founded by Methodist minister (Christianity), minister William Booth (1829–1912).
* 1866: The introduction, planting, cultivation and manufacturing of Ceylon tea in the British Crown colony of Ceylon, now Sri 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."
* 1868: Erection of first mounted dinosaur skeleton, Hadrosaurus Foulkii and introduction of the universal standard for all future dinosaur displays by English artist Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins in concert with Dr Joseph Leidy and Edward Drinker Cope. Displayed at The Academy of Natural Sciences
* 1870s: One precursor (among others) of the modern gas mask constructed by physicist John Tyndall (1820–1893).
* 1897: Plasticine invented by art teacher William Harbutt (1844–1921).
* 1901: Scale model, Model construction system Meccano invented by Frank Hornby (1863–1936).
* 1902: First large-scale programme of international scholarships, the Rhodes Scholarship, created by Cecil John Rhodes (1853–1902).
* 1907: The Scouting, scout movement created by Robert Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell, Lord Baden-Powell (1857–1941), on finding that his 1899 Military education and training, military training manual ''Aids to Scouting'' was being used by teachers and youth organisations.
*1908: The reserve forest which would become the Kaziranga National Park founded by George Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston, Lord Curzon of Kedleston to protect the dwindling species of rhinoceros.
* 1913: The crossword puzzle invented by Liverpool
Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...
-born Arthur Wynne (1871–1945).
* 1922: Discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb by Archaeologist and Egyptologist Howard Carter, funded by Lord Carnarvon.
* 1933: Bayko – a plastic building model construction toy, and one of the earliest plastic toys to be marketed – invented by Charles Plimpton (1893–1948).
* 1946: Construction set, Toy building bricks invented and patented (under the name "Kiddicraft") by Hilary (Harry) Fisher Page (1904–1957); The Lego Group acquired Page's patent in 1981.
* 1949: Oldest literary festival, the Cheltenham Literature Festival, established.
* 1965: Geometric drawing toy Spirograph developed by Denys Fisher (1918–2002).
See also
* List of British innovations and discoveries * List of Welsh inventors * List of Scottish inventions and discoveries * Timeline of Irish inventions and discoveries * Science in Medieval Western EuropeReferences
{{DEFAULTSORT:English Inventions And Discoveries British technology-related lists, English inventions English inventions, * English history-related lists, Inventions and discoveries Lists of inventions or discoveries