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British innovations and discoveries

By Lissa_St
  • The first working reflecting telescope

    The first working reflecting telescope

    Sir Isaac Newton invents the first working reflecting telescope
  • The first practical steam engine

    The first practical steam engine

    The first practical steam engine is designed by Thomas Newcomen

  • The first electrostatic motors

    The first electrostatic motors are developed by Andrew Gordon in the 1740s.

  • An Essay on the History of Civil Society.

    Adam Ferguson, often known as 'The Father of Modern Sociology', publishes his work An Essay on the History of Civil Society.
  • The Iron Bridge

    The Iron Bridge

    The Iron Bridge, the first arch bridge made of cast iron, is built by Abraham Darby III

  • The world's first locomotive-hauled railway

    The world's first locomotive-hauled railway journey is made by Richard Trevithick's steam locomotive.
  • Electromagnetic induction

    Electromagnetic induction

    Electromagnetic induction, the operating principle of transformers and nearly all modern electric generators, is discovered by Michael Faraday.

  • The telephone

    Scotsman Alexander Graham Bell patents the telephone in the U.S.
  • A method for classifying fingerprints

    A method for classifying fingerprints

    Sir Francis Galton devises a method for classifying fingerprints that proved useful in forensic science.
  • Discover the electron

    Discover the electron

    Sir Joseph John Thomson discovers the electron

  • The World Wide Web

    Sir Tim Berners-Lee writes a proposal for what will become the World Wide Web. The following year, he specified HTML, the hypertext language, and HTTP, the protocol.