What is your hometown known for? Interactive map reveals the unexpected UK towns and villages where world-famous gadgets were invented - from the TV to the toothbrush
Share:
There's no doubt Great Britain lays claim to some of the greatest scientific discoveries and inventions that have changed the face of modern society. Now, MailOnline's interactive map reveals the birthplace of 30 of these famous British marvels, from stainless steel to the jet engine and the electric motor.
![[Alexander Fleming (pictured here in 1951) discovered the first-known antibiotic when a mould of the genus Penicillium accidentally started growing in a Petri dish in his laboratory at the St Mary’s Hospital Medical School, which is today part of Imperial College London]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/18/15/6934108-14197999-Alexander_Fleming_pictured_discovered_the_first_known_antibiotic-m-3_1734536818127.jpg)
Who can forget Alan Turing's Bombe machine, used to break Enigma-enciphered messages about enemy military operations during WWII?. Turing developed the Bombe in 1939 at Bletchley Park in Buckinghamshire and hundreds were built, marking a crucial contribution to the war effort.
![[Penicillin's first clinical use wasn't until the 1940s. Pictured, vintage Penicillin products manufactured in the mid-century by Glaxo]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/20/14/6934114-14197999-Penicillin_s_first_clinical_use_wasn_t_until_the_1940s_Pictured_-m-46_1734705921669.jpg)
Also on the map is the hovercraft invented by Christopher Cockerell in 1955 and first launched four years later on the the Isle of Wight. In addition, there's Sir Isaac Newton's reflecting telescope which revolutionized astronomy and graphene, the 'wonder material' from Manchester.
![[The penicillin mould was accidentally grown by physician and microbiologist Alexander Fleming in London in 1928. Pictured, a sample of mould regrown from one of Sir Fleming's frozen samples in 2020]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/18/15/33564192-14197999-The_penicillin_mould_accidentally_grown_by_physician_and_microbi-a-1_1734536656300.jpg)
But even the humblest ideas – such as the claw-ended can opener devised by Robert Yeates in Middlesex in 1955 – have changed lives. MailOnline also takes a closer look at eight of these 30 influential innovations, including cat's eyes, tarmac and the television.
![[In August 1913, Sheffield metallurgist Harry Brearley added chromium to molten iron to produce a revolutionary metal that did not rust. Pictured, workers pouring a small casting at Edgar Allen's Steel foundry, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, 1963]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/19/11/93311093-14197999-image-a-4_1734608622220.jpg)
A wartime picture of a Bletchley Park Bombe. This electro-mechanical device used to break Enigma-enciphered messages about enemy military operations during the Second World War. PENICILLIN. Since its accidental discovery, an estimated 500 million lives or more have been saved by penicillin – the first known antibiotic.
![[Pictured, a steelworker checks the curve of a steel plate after it has been passed through the rollers, Edgar Allen's steel foundry, Sheffield, Yorkshire, 1964]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/19/11/93311091-14197999-image-m-6_1734608661330.jpg)
