Thursday, February 01, 2007

LIST

This a list of the notable things about Britain in no particular order.

The discovery of the DNA code by Francis Crick
Smallpox vaccination by Edward Jenner
Monty Python
Godfrey Hounsfield's CT scanner
The old course at St Andrews
Baden-Powell's boy scouts
Rudyard Kipling
The Archers
Frank Whittle and the jet engine
The Tollpuddle martyrs and the birth of Trades Union
Dolly the sheep
The ss Queen Mary
Michael Faraday
The Medical Research Council and the randomised clinical trial
Isambard Kingdom Brunel
The 1611 translation of the Bible
The link between cigarette smoking and lung cancer
The British Council
The eccentric scientist working alone (viz. Peter Mitchell)
John Wesley and Methodism
Brighton Pavilion
James Black's designer drugs
God's Englishman, Oliver Cromwell
Manchester United
The Royal Mail
The National Trust
William Harvey and the circulation of blood
The New Forest
The Spitfire
Lister's antiseptic surgery
The Lake District
Handel's Messiah
Public hanging at Tyburn
Ronald Ross's discovery of how malaria is transmitted
Poets' corner
Jarrow marchers
Charles Rennie Mackintosh
Cranmer's book of common prayer
The 11-plus
Ration books
Sir Christopher Wren
Driving on the left
The Broad Street Pump incident
The Royal Society
The cathedral choir
The miners' strike
English cheeses
The parish council
Speakers' corner
Shirley Bassey
Yorkshire pudding
Hampden Court Maze
The E type Jaguar
The playing fields of Eton
Blackpool Tower and Pleasure beach
The Times crossword puzzle
Earl Grey tea
The blitz
The Raj
Mary Shelley's Frankenstein
The Flying Scotsman
Dan Dare and the Mekon
Ballroom dancing
Coarse fishing
The London sewers
Dinosaurs in Dorset
The Arsenal offside trap
The Lancet
Lords
Waterloo (the battle not the station)
"Brief Encounter"
Morris dancers+
The Notting Hill Carnival
Mary Jones' Bible (Bala)
Understatement
Polo
Sun headlines
The Royal Aircraft Establishment at Farnborough
The smell at Lipton's and the Home and Colonial
Double Decker buses
Old English Marmalade
Real tennis
Litotes
The leg-before-wicket law
The Goons
The six wives of Henry VIII
Sherlock Holmes
Twickenham


The list is not exhaustive

7 comments:

  1. Terry,

    My wife Sally (justme) has gotten me interested in your blog. I've discovered that we have a common interest in books, movies and making lists (as you can see from my blog:Listing Through Life and the book club I started Carpe Libra). I got a kick out of your list on Britain, and I appreciate your frequent posts on your faith. You are a huge encouragement to Sally. Thank you.

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  2. A good list - another random 20

    Marmite
    Final Score
    London Eye
    Radio Times
    Yes Minister
    Imported monarchs since before Knut
    The Royal Statistical Society
    Blackadder
    The Spinning Jenny
    Steak and Kidney pudding
    Whingeing
    Distrust of demagogues
    Roxy Music
    The Sun
    Quaker- driven social reform
    Start-rite shoes
    Jethro Tull's seed drill
    Meat Raffles
    Back street pubs
    The Bunhill Fields non-conformist cemetery

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  3. Couldn't resist a list. From the top of the country:
    Scottish Bread
    Pole Rolls
    Mutton Pies
    HP Sauce
    Black Pudding
    Danish Bacon
    Steak and Kidney Pie
    Trifle
    Clyde Valley Tomatoes
    Ayrshire Potatoes
    Sausages
    Sliced Sausage
    Irn Bru
    Fritters
    Kippers
    Fresh Fish
    Cheeses
    Oatcakes
    Crumpets
    Scones
    Digestive Biscuits
    Chocolate Digestives
    Marmalade
    High Tea
    Lemon Curd
    Edinburgh Tattoo
    Bagpipes and Drums
    The Kilt
    Bacon Butties
    Chip Butties
    Devilled Kidneys
    My Ain Folk
    Parliamo Glesca
    Scottish Accent
    Braveheart
    Marks and Sparks
    Hogmany
    Malt Whisky
    Pub Conviviality
    Club Conviviality
    Bitter Beer
    Pub Grub
    Rabbie Burns
    Doon the Watter
    Go to the shell (meeting point) at Glasgow Central Station and shout "Hey Jimmy" and watch the majority turn round
    As Time Goes Bye
    Waiting For God
    Saturday Night Football
    The News in English English
    Sunday Papers (Scottish)

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  4. Thanks Roger,
    Carpe Libra is an awesone site. Just awesome!

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  5. Listing Through Life is a more personal blog with lots of interesting factoids. I've bookmarked both

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