Discover the Hidden Heritage: An Interactive Journey Through UK Towns Where Iconic Gadgets Were Born!

There is no denying that Great Britain boasts some of the most significant scientific breakthroughs and inventions that have transformed modern society.

Currently, MailOnline’s interactive map unveils the origins of 30 of these renowned British innovations, from stainless steel to the jet engine and the electric motor.

Who could possibly forget Alan Turing’s Bombe machine, utilized to decipher Enigma-encoded communications regarding enemy military activities during World War II?

Turing invented the Bombe in 1939 at Bletchley Park in Buckinghamshire, and hundreds of units were constructed, representing a vital contribution to the war effort.

Also featured on the map is the hovercraft, conceived by Christopher Cockerell in 1955 and first launched four years later on the Isle of Wight.

Additionally, there’s Sir Isaac Newton’s reflecting telescope, which revolutionized the field of astronomy, along with graphene, the ‘wonder material’ originating from Manchester.

Even the simplest concepts—like the claw-ended can opener invented by Robert Yeates in Middlesex in 1955—have made significant impacts on everyday lives.

MailOnline also delves deeper into eight of these influential inventions, including cat’s eyes, tarmac, and the television.

A wartime photograph of a Bombe at Bletchley Park. This electro-mechanical device was utilized to decode Enigma-encoded messages concerning enemy military actions during the Second World War

PENICILLIN

Following its serendipitous discovery, penicillin—the first recognized antibiotic—has saved an estimated 500 million lives or more.

In September 1928, Scottish doctor Dr. Alexander Fleming returned to his laboratory at London’s St Mary’s Hospital Medical School after a family vacation.

He discovered mould developing on a Petri dish containing Staphylococcus bacteria—however, intriguingly, the mould was inhibiting bacterial growth around it.

Conversely, Staphylococci colonies situated farther from the mould appeared normal—leading him to quip, ‘that’s curious.’

Dr. Fleming quickly recognized that the mould synthesized a self-defensive compound capable of killing bacteria, naming it penicillin.

He shared his findings in a presentation the following February, yet it garnered little interest from his colleagues, and its initial clinical application did not occur until the 1940s.

Fleming’s efforts—which earned him the Nobel Prize in 1945—have been termed the ‘greatest triumph ever achieved against disease,’ paving the way for contemporary antibiotics.

Alexander Fleming (shown here in 1951) uncovered the first-known antibiotic when a mould of the genus Penicillium unintentionally began growing in a Petri dish in his laboratory at St Mary’s Hospital Medical School, now integrated into Imperial College London

Penicillin’s initial clinical application did not occur until the 1940s. Shown are vintage Penicillin products produced in the mid-20th century by Glaxo

The penicillin mould was unintentionally cultivated by physician and microbiologist Alexander Fleming in London in 1928. Shown is a sample of mould regrown from one of Sir Fleming’s frozen samples in 2020

Prior to the advent of antibiotics, even minor injuries such as paper cuts to childbirth could potentially be fatal if an individual were infected by bacteria.

STAINLESS STEEL

There is no doubt that Sheffield prides itself on stainless steel, as the ‘Steel City’ produced its first batch of the material more than a century ago.

Referred to its capacity for resisting corrosion and rust, stainless steel provided affordable cutlery to the general public.

In August 1913, Sheffield metallurgist Harry Brearley incorporated chromium into molten iron to create a groundbreaking metal that did not rust.

A 1915 article in The New York Times lauded it as ‘particularly well-suited for table cutlery,’ noting that the polish remains intact after utilization, even when in contact with ‘the most acidic foods.’

Yet, beyond cutlery, stainless steel is utilized…

to produce automobiles, medical tools, and significant industrial equipment such as chemical facilities and paper manufacturing units.

Although it will forever be associated with Sheffield, currently the three leading stainless steel producers are situated in China and South Korea.

In August 1913, Sheffield metallurgist Harry Brearley introduced chromium to molten iron, creating a groundbreaking metal that resisted rust. Pictured, workers pouring a small casting at Edgar Allen’s Steel foundry, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, 1963

Pictured, a steelworker verifies the curve of a steel plate after it has been passed through the rollers, Edgar Allen’s steel foundry, Sheffield, Yorkshire, 1964

TELEVISION

As Roald Dahl remarked, watching television ‘rots the senses in the head’ and ‘kills imagination dead’, while scholar Neil Postman stated it ‘requires no skills and develops no skills’.

It appears that no other contemporary innovation quite divides opinions like television, which was envisioned as a futuristic idea for decades before becoming a reality.

Numerous engineers of the early 20th century performed essential experiments in image transmission, including Paul Nipkow from Germany and Vladimir Zworykin from Russia.

Nonetheless, it was Scotsman John Logie Baird who first exhibited a functioning television – at his workshop located at Queen’s Arcade in Hastings.

He generated the initial television images in the arcade in 1923 and gave a demonstration to scientists in Soho, London in January 1926.

As his methodologies progressed, Baird was able to showcase television across a distance of 400 miles, spanning London and Glasgow.

Baird established the Baird Television Development Company Ltd, which in 1928 accomplished the first transatlantic television transmission, from London to Hartsdale, New York.

John Logie Baird showcases his ‘televisor’, a receiver for a mechanical television transmission system utilizing a spinning disk. This approach was soon surpassed by electronic television after World War II. Note the ethereal image on the left – the earliest known photo of a moving image created by the televisor, as reported in The Times, 28 January 1926 (The subject is Baird’s business associate Oliver Hutchinson)

In 1924, the arcade was the venue for Scottish inventor John Logie Baird’s first public demonstration of televised images

In 1929, the BBC officially transmitted the first television programs, while the Baird ‘Televisor’ was marketed in the UK from 1930 to 1933.

TARMAC

Tarmac, also known as Tarmacadam, is utilized daily by billions globally – but its creation traces back to Nottingham.

Comprising crushed stone combined with tar, the extremely durable and weather-resistant substance replaced dusty gravel roads in the early 20th century.

At that time, dusty gravel roads were becoming inadequate for the emerging mode of transport – the automobile.

Tarmac was developed by Welshman Edgar Hooley, a surveyor for Nottinghamshire County, who stumbled upon a smooth road in Denby, Derbyshire, in 1901.

He discovered that a barrel of tar had burst on the roadway, and waste slag had been used to cover it – creating a smooth, solid surface with no dust.

In 1902, Hooley secured a patent for the technique of adding slag to heated tar, and crushing stones within the mix to create a smooth, solid roadway.

Pictured, tarmac being laid for a new roadway on the Manvers coal prep site in Rotherham, Yorkshire in 1955

He transformed Radcliffe Road in Nottingham into the world’s first tarmacked road, applying his mixture across five miles.

TOOTHBRUSH

As 18th century entrepreneur William Addis demonstrated, a criminal past does not prevent one from redeeming oneself and making a positive impact.

In 1770, the London resident was incarcerated at Newgate prison for inciting a riot, where he conceived the idea for a groundbreaking new method of cleaning teeth.

Addis determined that the common technique of the time – using crushed soot with a cloth – was insufficient.effective sufficient. 

Motivated by the practice of using a broom to tidy up the ground, he salvaged a small animal bone from a meal, into which he created small perforations.

Subsequently, he fastened some bristles into clusters and inserted them through the holes in the bone, ultimately securing with adhesive to invent the world’s initial toothbrush. 

Following his release, William established a business, Addis, in 1780 to mass-produce his toothbrushes – a company that persists to this day.

William established a business, Addis, in 1780 to mass-produce his toothbrushes – a company that still exists today

By 1840, toothbrushes were being produced in large quantities in England, France, Germany, and Japan, while Addis provided WWI soldiers with toothbrushes, creating a national ‘routine’ of dental hygiene. 

CAT’S EYES

Cat’s eyes are small reflective road studs that assist drivers in navigating roadways, especially at night or in foggy conditions where visibility is compromised. 

These tiny devices are not electronic; they merely depend on reflecting the headlights of vehicles at night – a cost-effective and low-maintenance solution. 

Regarded as one of the most remarkable inventions in accident prevention, cat’s eyes were devised by Percy Shaw from Halifax 70 years ago. 

In 1933, Shaw was motivated by the glimpse of his car headlights reflecting in a cat’s eyes, allowing him to correct his course and stay on the road. 

Percy’s great-niece, Glenda Shaw, shared with the BBC that he had been driving home from the pub on a misty night – so if it ‘weren’t for his habit of visiting the pub’ he would never have invented them. 

He patented the cat’s eye in 1934 and established a company to produce his creation the subsequent year, named Reflecting Roadstuds Ltd, and received an OBE in 1965. 

Cat’s eyes utilize domed glass tubes referred to as ‘retroreflectors’, which reflect light in a very directional manner back to the light source – specifically, car headlights

Displayed, 1930s Thermofix vacuum flask

VACUUM FLASK 

The double-walled container retains hot liquids hot and cold liquids cold by minimizing heat transfer through a vacuum

We have yet another Scottish creator to appreciate for an invention that continues to serve hot-beverage enthusiasts today.

James Dewar, a chemist and physicist from Kincardine, invented the vacuum-insulated flask while employed at Cambridge University in 1892. 

His celebrated double-walled container keeps hot liquids warm and cold liquids cool by reducing heat exchange through a vacuum. 

Vacuum flasks are commonly called thermoses, although this designates a brand of vacuum flasks that profited from Dewar’s invention. 

The Thermos company, established in Germany in 1904, patented the vacuum flask and promoted it, meaning Dewar did not gain financially from the widespread use of his invention. 

GRAPHENE 

A considerably more contemporary advancement is graphene, created and discovered by scientists Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov at the University of Manchester in 2004. 

Graphene is a sheet-like structure of carbon that is only one atom thick and excels at conducting electricity and heat compared to any other known substance. 

Graphene is often referred to as a ‘wonder material’ that has the potential to transform electronics. Displayed, a petri dish with graphene powder

Konstantin Novoselov (left) and Andre Geim (right) at a 2010 Nobel Prize press conference; the duo won the Physics prize that year for producing and identifying graphene 

Thus, it is a promising candidate for electronic circuits that take up less space, weigh less, are flexible, and are more efficient than contemporary electronics. 

One million times thinner than the diameter of a single human hair, graphene is the first genuine two-dimensional (2D) material in existence. 

A sheet of A4 paper may appear 2D to the unaided eye, but it is actually three-dimensional, as it has a depth ranging between 300,000 and 600,000 atoms.

In 2010, Geim and Novoselov were honored with the Nobel Prize in Physics for graphene, which gained attention as a ‘wonder material’, but since increasing its application has encountered several challenges, such as high expenses and quality assurance. 

Researchers remain optimistic that it will soon find uses across various sectors, including transportation, healthcare, energy, and defense, as well as electronics. 

‘Utilizing all of graphene’s remarkable characteristics could create an impact comparable to that of the Industrial Revolution,’ states the University of Manchester.