From the electric kettle to the World Wide Web, Britain has given the world some fantastic inventions during the Queen’s 60-year reign
It’s hard to believe, we know, but it’s 60 years since The Queen walked on the moon – and to celebrate, the entire UK is getting a few days off.
Some of us will honour Her Maj by buying Union Jack-branded kitchen roll and dog toys, others will play Salmonella Roulette at street parties, and some of us will drink so much fizz that Prince Philip starts to make a strange kind of sense.
Even if you’re an ardent republican, the Jubilee is an important milestone. It’s an opportunity to pause, to reflect, and to realise how mind-bogglingly different our world is from the world of 1952.
Some things haven’t changed, of course – it’s not as if in 1952 we lived in ponds and breathed through gills, or anything like that – but very many of the things we take for granted, such as colour, teenagers, dubstep, Angry Birds and reasonable life expectancies, were still far in the future.
Some of the biggest changes The Queen has overseen have been technological. Over the last 60 years there has been an endless parade of amazing inventions from great British brains.
Britons put bulges in every pocket with MP3 players and Viagra, built the world’s best aeroplane, found a sexier way to vacuum the carpet, invented the ATM and brought the world closer together by inventing the World Wide Web.
Not only that, but we did it fuelled by nothing stronger than a nice cup of tea. Here’s to some great British inventions and a great Jubilee weekend.
Infographic credit: Comet.
