List of English inventions and discoveries

English inventions are objects, processes or techniques which owe their existence either partially or entirely to a person born in England; in some cases, their Englishness is determined by the fact that they were brought into existence in England , by non-English people working in the country. Often, things which are discovered for the first time, are also called "inventions", and in many cases, there is no clear line between the two.

The following is a list of inventions or discoveries often held to be in some way English:

Communications

• Clockwork radio - Trevor Baylis

Computing

• Analytical engine - Sir Charles Babbage
• Difference engine Sir Charles Babbage

Clock making

• Anchor escapement - Robert Hooke
• Balance spring - Robert Hooke (disputed - possibly invented by Christiaan Huygens of the Netherlands)
• Grasshopper escapement - John Harrison
• Gridiron pendulum - John Harrison

Engineering

• Adjustable spanner - Edwin Beard Budding
• First working universal joint - Robert Hooke
• Newcomen steam engine - Thomas Newcomen
• The first screw-cutting lathe - Henry Maudslay

Food

• Bird's Custard - Alfred Bird
• Sandwich - John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich

Industrial processes

• Bessemer process - Henry Bessemer
• Flying shuttle - John Kay
• Hydraulic press - Joseph Bramah
• Portland cement - Joseph Aspdin
• Sheffield plate - Thomas Boulsover
• Spinning frame - John Kay
• Spinning jenny - James Hargreaves
• Water frame - Richard Arkwright

Military

• Congreve rocket - William Congreve]
• High explosive squash head - Sir Charles Dennistoun Burney

Photography

• Ambrotype - Frederick Scott Archer
• Collodion process - Frederick Scott Archer

Science

• Compound microscope with 30x magnification - Robert Hooke
• Electrical generator (dynamo) - Michael Faraday
• Newtonian telescope - Sir Isaac Newton
• Micrometer - Sir William Gascoigne
  • the first bench micrometer that was capable of measuring to one ten thousandth of an inch - Henry Maudslay
• Slide rule - William Oughtred

Transport

Railways

• Puffing Billy -William Hedley
• Locomotion No 1 - Robert Stephenson
• Sans Pareil - Timothy Hackworth
• Stephenson's Rocket - George and Robert Stephenson

Roads

• Bowden cable - Frank Bowden
• Caterpillar track - Sir George Cayley
• Hansom cab - Joseph Hansom
• Seat belt - George Cayley
• Tarmac - E. Purnell Hooley

Sea

• Lifeboat - Lionel Lukin
• Resurgam - George Garrett

Miscellaneous

• Cat flap - Sir Isaac Newton (attributed)
• Collapsible baby buggy - Owen Maclaren
• Fire extinguisher - George William Manby
• Lawn mower - Edwin Beard Budding
• Meccano - Frank Hornby