6 British Inventions that Changed the World

The world that we know now did not appear overnight. Technology has been advancing for so many centuries and scientists and inventors from all over the world helped build the advances we have now. We cannot say which country made the biggest difference that changed the world, but one thing we do know is that it was a team effort.

Starting from the power and electricity up to the telephone and MRI, most of the inventions could not function without the other. Many brave men and women stood up and showed their inventions even when no one believed them and with that made the world a better place for us to live in. Did you know that most scientists and inventors did not get recognized about their work years after their deaths? Most of the scientists that discovered important things actually died in poverty and never learned that people are grateful for what they did.

Now we are going to talk about British inventions and how they changed the world. Many of these things and these inventors made a huge difference in our lives and unfortunately, we don’t really know about them.

1. World Wide Web

If you somehow did not know this before, the www before every URL that you use on the internet stands for the worldwide web. This is a relatively new invention, but it is something that we use every single day and it is safe to say that we cannot imagine our lives without the internet.

The “father” of the internet is the British Inventor Tim Berners-Lee, who wrote the first web client and server. The internet was discovered in 1989 and even though many of Berners-Lee was changed and updated in the later years, everything that we know is based on his work.

2. The Telephone

This is a fairly debated subject because Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the telephone was born in Britain. However, he spent most of his life in North America and died in Canada. So, people are debating if he is a Canadian or a British inventor. Whichever it is, we are definitely grateful for his contribution that led us to modern-day smartphones and the ability to communicate with everyone anywhere in the world.

This invention was patented in 1876 and the invention spread in almost no time. Bell was one of the few scientists that got rich and got recognized while he was still alive.

3. Television

For readers that are bit older, you probably remember the black and white TVs and you may even remember having to get up just to change the channel. Nowadays we have so many different channels and stream services, that we don’t really know what to watch first.

That was all different in the past. The first TV was a lot different than the ones with flat screens we have now, but they are all based on the invention made by John Logie Baird. It can be said that the TV was invented in 1925, however, it took several years for this patent to find its use and for the first TV to be built.

Even though the course of television started about a hundred years ago, today there are still changes that are made and new inventions based on this. If you think you have an idea that deserves to be patented you can check this to find out how that is done. Many people have amazing ideas that could make the world a better place but don’t know how or where to start.

4. Steam Engine

Now let’s get back a few hundred years ago. This is something that we all learned in our history classes, but most of us didn’t remember the name or the date. Richard Trevithick is the inventor behind the steam engine that was the basis for all transport that we have and know nowadays.

One really interesting fact is that the first trip a steam engine vehicle took was on Christmas Eve. The discovery happened in 1801 and now, more than 200 years later, we are happy to say that electric and hybrid vehicles are the future. This was a huge discovery that made a difference when it comes not only to transport but also to the economy as it helped people purchase and exchange goods from one country to another with ease.

5. Antibiotics

As you probably already know, in the past the life span was definitely shorter than it is now. People used to get sick from, then, terminal diseases that now are easily treatable. The person who prolonged our lives and with his invention managed to treat many diseases is the Scottish biologist, Alexander Fleming.

Did you know that the discovery of the penicillin actually happened by accident? Today there are more than 30 million antibiotics that are prescribed to patients to treat different diseases and it all started in 1928.

6. Chocolate

Let’s finish this list with something we all love. From youngest to oldest, it is the favorite to pretty much every human on earth.

As you already know, chocolate is made from cocoa, but there was a time when the chocolate bars as we know them did not exist. In 1847, Joseph Fry was the first person who decided to combine sugar with cocoa powder and put it in a mold. That is how the first chocolate bar ever was born.

About 20 years later, in 1866 these sweets began to mass-produce in Fry’s own factory in Bristol. We are definitely happy about this sweet invention, right? This was the invention that led to many different chocolates like Milka and Nestle that we all know and love today.

So, if you notice that the world is missing something that could make lives better and simpler, then you should go ahead and try to pattern your product. However, you need to make sure that the thing you thought of does not already exist and you need to follow all the steps so you can pattern your product. You just need to believe in yourself, follow the guidelines and file for pattern approval.

What do you think left the biggest mark in the world as we know it? Do you have an inventor who you really cherish and look up to? One thing that most people don’t realize is that everyone can become an inventor. Even though it seems like we have even more things that we need, there is always something that is missing.