Two American podcasters have been left stunned after discovering how many things the Scots have invented, declaring that Scotland "may be the most important country on the planet".
Podcast hosts Brian Conz and Zach Misischia run their show 'The Makeshift Project' which is popular in the US. The pair recently posted a video on TikTok of their conversation about Scottish inventions which has now gone viral online.
The List of Inventions
Conz begins by listing 16 groundbreaking inventions we couldn't live without today which all originated from Scotland. He says: "Scotland may be the most important country on the planet. I'm going to list 16 things that that country invented and you're going to tell me, are they the most important country or not?"
He starts with penicillin, the telephone, television, and the lightbulb. When Misischia questions the lightbulb attribution to Edison, Conz notes that Scottish inventor James Bowman Lindsay built an early constant electric incandescent light prototype in 1835, decades before Thomas Edison's modern version.
The list continues with the raincoat, MRI scanner, refrigerator, colour photograph, contact lenses, flushing toilet, steam engine, fingerprint classification, ATM, encyclopedia, kaleidoscope, and golf.
Reactions and Comments
Misischia was visibly stunned by the revelations. The podcasters included a lengthy caption explaining Scottish history, inventions, culture, science and modern global roles.
Proud Scots rushed to the comments, pointing out missed inventions including venoms and square sausages. One replied: "Thank you Scotland. You deserve to be an independent country." Another joked: "And just imagine what we could have done if we'd been sober!" A third added: "Football was also invented in Scotland. A Scottish man introduced football to Argentina and Brazil."
List of Inventors
The article continues with a breakdown of the listed Scottish inventions and their inventors:
- Discovery of penicillin – Alexander Fleming
- The telephone – Alexander Graham Bell
- The television – John Logie Baird
- The lightbulb – James Bowman Lindsay
- The raincoat – Charles Macintosh
- The refrigerator – William Cullen
- Colour photographs – James Clerk Maxwell and photographer Thomas Sutton
- First disposable contact lenses – Ron Hamilton
- Flushing toilet – Alexander Cumming
- Steam engine – James Watt
- Fingerprint classification – Henry Faulds
- ATM – James Goodfellow and John Shepherd-Barron
- Encyclopædia Britannica – Colin Macfarquhar, Andrew Bell, and William Smellie
- Kaleidoscope – Sir David Brewster
- Golf – evolved in Scotland during the Middle Ages
