“The wheel was voted as the most important invention in history, with the aeroplane in second place, the lightbulb third, the worldwide web fourth and computers fifth,” The Beeb reports. “Other inventions to make the top ten included Graham Bell’s telephone in sixth place, followed by Sir Alexander Flemming’s discovery of Penicillin.”
“The iPhone came eighth, while Thomas Crapper’s flushing toilet was ninth,” The Beeb reports. “The internal combustion engine came tenth.”
The Beeb reports, “Lance Batchelor, Chief Executive Officer of Tesco Mobile, which carried out the nationwide research among 18-65 year-olds, said: ‘All of the inventions included in this list have changed the world forever. Whether it be something as small as a paper clip, to something which changed the face of the universe like the combustion engine, these amazing feats have all been recognized as truly great. It’s amazing to see how much the iPhone is valued, sitting alongside inventions such as Penicillin in people’s perceptions and being declared a more important invention than miracle gadgets of their own time, such as the compass. No wonder the iPhone has been flying off the shelves at Tesco, as it allows us to have everything we need at our finger tips.'”
Full article here.
My traveling toilet for handicapped oldsters.
http://www.redferret.net/?p=21186
its about people today with today’s perceptions… a good deal of stuff is simply taken for granted now, like running water and how about mattresses?
Here’s the list for people who do not want to read the article:
100 GREATEST INVENTIONS 1. Wheel 2. Aeroplane 3. Light bulb 4. Internet 5. PCs 6. Telephone 7. Penicillin 8. iPhone 9. Flushing toilet 10. Combustion engine 11. Contraceptive pill 12. Washing machine 13. Central heating 14. Fridge 15. Pain killers 16. Steam engine 17. Freezer 18. Camera 19. Cars 20. Spectacles 21. Mobile phones 22. Toilet paper 23. Hoover 24. Trains 25. Google 26. Microwave 27. Email 28. The pen 29. Hot water 30. Shoe 31. Compass 32. Ibuprofen 33. Toothbrush 34. Hair straighteners 35. Laptops 36. Knife and fork 37. Scissors 38. Paper 39. Space travel 40. Kettle 41. Calculator 42. Bed 43. Remote control 44. Roof 45. Air conditioning 46. SAT NAV 47. Wi-Fi 48. Cats-eyes 49. Matches 50. Power steering 51. Tumble dryer 52. Bicycle 53. Sky+ 54. Tea bags 55. Umbrella 56. iPod 57. Taps 58. Crash helmet 59. Wristwatch 60. eBay 61. DVD player 62. Nappies 63. Ladder 64. Sun tan lotion 65. Lawnmower 66. Make-up 67. Chairs 68. Sunglasses 69. The game of football 70. Sliced bread 71. Sofa 72. Razor blades 73. Screwdriver 74. Motorways 75. Head/ear phones 76. Towels 77. Push-up bra 78. Binoculars 79. WD40 80. Mascara 81. Hair dryer 82. Facebook 83. Escalator 84. Hair dye 85. Wellington boots 86. Spell check 87. Calendars 88. Cheese grater 89. Buses 90. Post-it notes 91. Gloves 92. Satellite discs 93. Pedestrian crossing 94. Baby’s dummy 95. Curtains 96. Bottle opener 97. Food blender 98. Dustpan and brush 99. Desks 100. Clothes peg
air conditioning, dentistry and the glory hole.
Baby’s dummy? What the hell is that? A doll?
Alcohol
Handguns
Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil
Petroleum Products
Cigarettes
Automobiles
Motorcycles
Nuclear Fission
Airplanes
West Virginia
#1 Art
Whither Clippy?
People – you’ve all forgotten Guttenberg. The invention of the printing press marked the end of the middle ages and the beginning of knowledge, information and reason. (of course this pales in comparison to Mr. Crapper’s 19th century invention.)
How could 61,414,062 people be so stupid?
;-p
@Ken Cohen
You nailed it – the invention of the Gutenberg Press was pivotal in the course of human history, and deserves to be in the Top-5. The list in general strikes me as very biased toward the 20th/21st century (with a few exceptions).
Even so, there are a few other eggregious 19th/20th century omissions:
– Telegraph
– Gyroscope
– Radar
– Transistor
– Integrated circuit
– Atomic bomb
– Rocket engine
– Jet engine
These all seem a little more impactful than, say “Curtains”. Just sayin’…
@ comments passim
We don’t rate airconditioning because we don’t need it. We have a moderate climate. We do have taps that mix hot and cold water. A baby’s dummy is what you call a pacifier.
And we can call a fawcett a tap and a pacifier a dummy, because we bloody invented the English language. So we are ALWAYS right. And that includes spelling too! So it’s colour, and honour matey-boys. And it includes pronounciation to so it’s not “aloo-min-um”.
And while we’re at it we invented the bloody computer too, so ‘less Apple wants us to slap an ITC import ban on their arse (not ass) we better get some bloody royalty checks!
@John Bull
“…because we bloody invented the English language.”
Careful – the Germans may take issue with that. Again.
Just sayin’…
I think the iPhone is cool, but in the top 10 is absurd. Surprising no one has mentioned batteries, electrical circuitry, power lines … without which, many of the gadgets in this list would not work. To say nothing of solar cells, windmills, etc.
@John Bull. Right-on Johnny baby. I had to learn to spell again when I came to Calimexico. ( incorrectly, I might add. The weather’s great though). The internet is like Shakespeare, he could spell any way he liked.
Nobody has mentioned Maxipads yet!
I guess this means that the iPhone is – get ready – the 8th Wonder of the World!
Thank you! Thank you!
Well let’s add the screw and the birth control pill to the list of those to consider. I like the other considerations that others makes. It shows that humanity has come a long way.
And thanks to apes like Zune Thang, it goes to show how much evolution, although not an invention, is a valid theory.
hmmmm….no mention of flouride, huh?
..oh whale!!!!
Take “The internal combustion engine” away for a week and see what they think is important.
I was laughing at the absurdity of this list, but then I realized that the iPad hasn’t gone on sale there yet.
The human race like the ass will sooner of later be wiped out.
i love this website.
Ironically, spellings like color, favor and honor are older than the -our spellings currently used in the Queen’s English.
“#34. Hair straighteners”? Ok. Anyone, I say, anyone who reads this list… Are you listenin’ to me, Son?…anyone who reads, I say, reads this list as anything more than… Pay attention when I’m talkin’, Boy… more than journalistic masturbation is an egghead. Did you hear that, Son? Pay attention, Boy. Kids these days!