Lesser-known inventions of great minds

So crude was television in the beginning that the BBC took time to be convinced by John Logie Baird’s invention. Born in Helensburgh on 13 August 1888, Baird enrolled at Glasgow’s Royal Technology Col

1890 -CYCLING HOLIDAYS

It was December 1983, and Belgrade in former Yugoslavia was suffering a typically harsh winter. Temperatures had plummeted to as low as -10°C. Yet something happened that month which would warm the he

In the 17th century, the great maritime nations were vying to solve a puzzle that had confounded philosophers for many centuries: how to determine exact positions on the Earth’s surface. And in Britai

Mr Editor Clements allows me just 650 words for Full throttle. That’s a problem this month because John Fitch – racer, sailor, inventor, polymath – crammed so much into his very long life. Two years b

I n 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue. That, at least, is what the famous rhyme tells us. Memorising such dates is a common experience of being taught history – a cliché superbly lampooned by the w