Six Things That Are Of Great Historical Significance That Britain Was The First To Do

Since the rise of colonialism in modern history the British had been ahead of many countries in various aspects. Discussed in this list are six milestones in the march of civilisation the British were the first to reach. These are things that are of great historic significance. Things that positively changed s

ociety and made life better for humanity. Six of such advances in civilisation are presented in this list.

1. They Invented The First Motorized Armored Tank

During the 2nd world war Britain and its allies were faced with a problem that unnecessarily prolonged the conflict. The war was deadlocked in a trench warfare stalemate. The British sought for ways to eliminate this obstacle. They began research and soon came up with the idea of a motorized armored tank, the first ever made. Its inventors called it tank in the bid to hide the real purpose of its creation. During the conflict about 49 of these deadly weapon were shipped to the Somme battlefield in September of 1916. As the weapon laterBaby

ved highly impractical for warfare it was later abandoned.

1. They Developed Medicinal Penicillin
   

Alexander Flemming is the well known discoverer of the penicillin. It was a discovery Flemming came by entirely by accident in his lab during an experiment, precisely on September 1928. The biologist noticed that some of his stacked dishes had been contaminated with a substance that killed off the bacteria it contacted. Further research yielded the amazing revelation of the substance's ability to kill various forms of bacteria responsible for illnesses such as scarlet fever, pneumonia and some STDs.

For his efforts the biologist was honored with the Nobel Prize. He shared the prize with the two men responsible for developing medicinal penicillin, namely Howard Florey and Ernst Chain. Penicillin in its medicinal form was used widely during the 2ndWorld War to treat numerous bacteria-related illnesses on the battlefield.

1. The First ATM Was The Brainchild Of The British

John Shepherd-Barron, the inventor of the above-mentioned invention, chanced upon the idea when he was locked out of his bank. He went ahead with a proposition of the idea to Barclay's Bank and his company De LA Rue Automatic Cash Systems. Following this the first ATM was installed in Enfield North London in June 1967.

Barron's invention required checks personalised with carbon-14 and matched against a four digit PIN number. A maximum withdrawal of 10 pounds was allowed.

1. The World's First Historical Novel Was The Work Of A Briton

We can confidently name many British names famous for their contributions to British and World literature. Such names as Charles Dickens, George Orwell, William Golding, and the legendary Shakespeare will never be forgotten being forever engraved in gold in history.

Sir Walter Scott is one of such worthy of special mention. He, during his lifetime, produced many adorable and captivating literary works but he is especially remembered for giving the world the first historical novel.

He was a late 18th century Edinburgh lawyer who had an interest in traditional stories and ballads. Attributed to him ate numerous widely read and acclaimed poems. He decided to produce a novel based on the then recent Scottish rebellion against the British. The book "Waverley" was written and turned out to be a huge success. A new literary genre had been discovered, that is historical fiction. Walter's other works include Guy Mannering, Rob Roy and Ivanhoe. He was knighted for his achievements.

1. The Travellers' Check Was A Briton's Idea

Thomas Cook, a Briton, came up with this idea. His company Thomas Cooks And Sons produced the first European package tours, guide books, and something called "circular notes". It was basically a piece of paper in check form that patronizers of his firms products could exchange for local currency. It later became the travellers' check. Travellers later relied on it to acquire cash while travelling. Though later displaced by the ATM and also the debit and credit card, it was pretty much a huge commercial success.

1. They Made The First Test Tube Baby

At this time, this procedure was still largely experimental though it had been discovered a long while before. It proved successful for the first time when it was tried on a British women who had been having conception problems. The process itself involved the extraction of a mature egg from the woman's ovary and combining it in a lab petri dish with her husband's sperm. The embryo was then surgically implanted into her uterus a few days later. The press dubbed it "test tube". Lesley gave birth to her daughter Louise on 25 July 1978. Since then the process had been responsible for the successful intro-births of over 4 million children.