When the Industrial Revolution happened in the 18th and early 19th centuries, it brought about a huge wave of progress in terms of public transport and modern inventions, like the Great Western Railway. While those things are all terribly important, Britain is also the home of a lot of other inventions you may not know about - two-ply toilet paper, for example (yes, there once was a time when it was one-ply or no-ply), was invented over there too. Here are some of the lesser known, but fully appreciated, British inventions.
Hovercraft
English engineer Sir Christopher Cockerell believed in his invention of the hovercraft so much (Wouldn't you?) that he sold all of his personal possessions to order to finance research for it. He tested his hovercraft in 1955 using a hairdryer and two cans, and by 1959 he built a prototype that was able to cross the English Channel.
World Wide Web
Despite what you may have heard, Al Gore did not actually invent the Internet. It was Sir Timothy John Berners-Lee, an English developer, who created the World Wide Web in 1989. The following year, he made the first successful connection between a client and a server, and the Internet was born.
HovercraftEnglish engineer Sir Christopher Cockerell believed in his invention of the hovercraft so much (Wouldn't you?) that he sold all of his personal possessions to order to finance research for it. He tested his hovercraft in 1955 using a hairdryer and two cans, and by 1959 he built a prototype that was able to cross the English Channel.
World Wide Web
Despite what you may have heard, Al Gore did not actually invent the Internet. It was Sir Timothy John Berners-Lee, an English developer, who created the World Wide Web in 1989. The following year, he made the first successful connection between a client and a server, and the Internet was born.
