Top Ten British Creations

After a lot of thought, research and consideration, Businesscomparison.com have put together a list of Top Ten British Creations which were discovered after the millennium. You might be surprised by the results!

   1.  Graphene

Graphene was invented by two professors; Andre Geim and Konstantin back in 2002 at the University of Manchester. Since 1859, Scientists have been looking into types of graphene, using complex experiments.

Finally after so many decades, the first crystals were developed in 2004. The tremendous method came from using an everyday item, scotch tape. One day the two scientists were experimenting in their labs by using scotch tape to remove flakes from a lump of graphite. By doing this, they had noticed certain flakes were thinner than others. By separating the graphite fragments more than once, they managed to create one thick atom, through this they had made graphene, for the first time. Graphene is the first 2D material, it is harder than a diamond and 300 times stronger than steel. Rumour has it, one string of graphene could hold a grand piano.

   2.  The Hydrogen-Powered Battery – For IPhone

British technology company, Intelligent Energy, based in Loughborough has created the Hydrogen-Powered Battery earlier this year.

We all know the feeling, being half way through something and then our phone dies - possibly one of the worst feelings ever!

In 2015 Intelligent Energy, a British firm, set out to save lives (not literally!) by replacing an ordinary Apple (IPhone) battery with a hydrogen powered battery. This left the nation baffled as to why it was so different or special. Well, unlike a standard phone battery, a hydrogen powered one can keep your phone charged for up to seven days. Of course, to the generation of social and mobile users that sounds remarkable. Doesn’t it?

   3.  Harry Potter

JK Rowling, originally from Gloucestershire UK was declared the 12th richest women in the UK back in 2008. She created the extremely famous sequence of novels; Harry Potter.

Although Harry Potter was written before the millennium, it reached its highest peak afterwards when the films first came into being in 2001. The Harry Potter series was then completed in 2007.

Harry Potter began as a book in June 1997 and became a box office success in 2001. Internationally JK Rowling managed to sell over 450 million copies of the book and made a further £4.7 billion for the films. The long tale is based around a young boy, who lost his parents to the one who shall not be named! As time passes Harry Potter eventually learns that he is not just an average boy that lives at 4 Privet Drive, in fact, he is a wizard whose life is about to change. The series becomes a sequence of steps based on killing Lord Voldemort. If the books and movies were not good enough, the Harry Potter Studio became a tour in the UK in 2012. The development cost a large sum of £100 million. The autumn season in 2015 has also brought the fans some brilliant news that there will be another movie, however, it won’t be about Harry Potter himself, instead it will be based on his children to Jenny Weasley.

The Harry Potter books/movies

1. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone

2. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

3. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

4. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

5. Harry Potter and the Order of Pheonix

6. Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince

7. And finally Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, which was split into two movies

   4.  GTA – Grand Theft Auto

David Jones and Mike Dailly, two Scottish video game designers created GTA back in 1997, BUT the best game was not yet developed until 2001 – GTA 3. (Surely we are not the only ones who think that?)

GTA is an action-packed video game series, which is located in parts of America. GTA took gaming to a whole new level with focuses on an ‘open world’ where thugs, gangsters and gangs join to kill and steal for their next ride, the game allows players to progress on different missions they have chosen to ultimately create their own stories.

Below is a table which shows GTA up to date:

   5.   The X Factor

Simon Cowell, a very well-known born and bred Englishman, created the X Factor back in 2004, his idea of the X Factor is a ‘package’ that every singing artist should have.

If you can remember Pop Idol, then you will know about The X Factor. In 2003, Pop Idol said goodbye and the X Factor soon replaced it in 2004. It’s a music competition which was created to give people around the country a chance to win a career in singing. The X Factor has brought so much UK talent to light, the likes of; Leona Lewis, Olly Murs, Alexandra Burke and the winners of 5 Brit awards and 19 Teen Choice Awards, One Direction - who are funnily enough separating this year after forming back in 2010 by judges Louis Walsh, Cheryl Fernandez-Versini, Simon Cowell and Dannii Minogue. We have all seen our fair share of judges and presenters on the show, but the format and ethos has never changed.

   6.  The McLaren P1

McLaren Automotive created the McLaren P1 back in 2012, a magnificent car which sold out within a month.

The smooth looking car is considered as the ‘long-awaited’ successor to McLaren however, they did not set out two decades ago to become a competition. In 1995, the F1 became a huge well-known racing car, which won the Le Mans 24 Hours. The production of this vehicle was at first limited, with only 35 units and 375 McLaren existing customers invited to buy it.

   7.  Dyson Air Multiplier, also known as the Dyson Bladeless Fan

James Dyson, an English man born in Cromer, on the north coast of Norfolk, developed the Dyson Air Multiplier back in 2009.

When you imagine a fan, you’re not excited are you? We all know what a fan looks like, but the  invention takes fanning to a whole new level, imagine a fan without any blades, it doesn’t make any sense does it? Well, it does to Dyson. The idea has come from an aircraft wing, the breeze comes from the crack around the ring of the fan and passes over a shape like a wing on an aeroplane.

   8.  Raspberry Pi

In 2012, the Raspberry Pi Foundation created the fruity sounding, credit card sized single board computer.

The intention of the Raspberry Pi is to help people of all ages learn to develop skills in languages such as Scratch and Python. Whatever a desktop does, the Raspberry Pi is capable of doing it also. The Raspberry Pi can interact with the outside world. It has been used in many things such as; parent detectors, music machines and digital projects.

   9.  Just Eat

In 2001, Jasper Birch answered everyone’s fast food prayers with Just Eat.

It is an online service that hit the UK with a bang. Just Eat is the UK’s leading online takeaway service, the app allows you to order fast food from your local favourite takeaways. The main headquarters are in London, UK. The idea of Just Eat is to make ordering fast food just that little bit easier… and lazier! 3.2 million People visit Just Eat every month and there are 13 million people who are regularly ordering fast food twice a month.

   10.  The Cucumber Cap

Roarke McMaster, from Bio Sweep UK, went onto Dragons Den in 2013 with what he thought was a breakthrough… The Q Top, also known as the Cucumber Cap!

Roarke had hopes and dreams that he had finally found a solution which would prevent cucumbers from going hard and dry once cut… apparently foil and Clingfilm is not enough to keep cucumbers and other similar shaped items fresh, unfortunately, the panel at Dragons Den were not ready for this to hit the market. Although this never became a success it shows us the creative minds of the generation after the millennium!

Kareema