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Great Scot! Scotland's surprising inventions

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Scotland didn't just give us the fried Mars bars and Haggis. The country, which voted to remain part of the United Kingdom on Thursday, was responsible for inventions such as the television and the Bank of England.

As the dust settles following the independence referendum, here's a rundown of the top inventions Scotland has given the world.

Modern road surfaces – John Loudon McAdam

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Following his home-coming from New York in 1783 – where he had made his fortune - John Loudon McAdam - noticing the deplorable state of his Ayrshire district roads, undertook a series of experiments for a new method of road construction.

He later moved to Bristol, England, where his recommendation that roads should be raised above the ground and covered with layers of large and small stones, bound together with fine gravel or slag to allow proper drainage of rain water was put into use. His success saw him appointed Surveyor General of Metropolitan Roads in Great Britain and "Macadamization" of roads was standardized and exported.


Pneumatic tyres - Robert William Thomson and John Boyd Dunlop

The son of Scottish inventor John Dunlop, on the first bicycle to have pneumatic tyres.
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The first patent for a pneumatic tire was acquired in 1845 by Scottish engineer and inventor Robert William Thomson, but rubber to manufacture the inner tube of his invention proved too expensive at the time and the project was shelved. Thomson went on to gift the world with other inventions such as the fountain pen and steam cranes.

Over 40 years later, fellow Scot John Boyd Dunlop patented a pneumatic rubber tire -- which was later ruled invalid after Thomson's patent resurfaced but Dunlop is credited with developing and commercializing the tire.

The picture shows Dunlop's son on the first bicycle with pneumatic tyres.

The BBC - John Reith, 1st Baron Reith

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Despite later admitting that he "hadn't the remotest idea as to what broadcasting was", 33-year-old World War I veteran John Reith was appointed general manager at the new British Broadcasting Company (BBC) in 1922. By 1927, he had risen to become director general, been knighted and the BBC had become a corporation following his complaints about governance and governmental interference.

In 1938, Reith left the BBC and two years later he entered government, becoming first Minister of Information, then Transport and finally Works but was sacked by Winston Churchill in February 1942.


The telephone - Alexander Graham Bell

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Born to a family of elocution specialists, Alexander Graham Bell continued his family tradition, researching the mechanics of speech and developing a "visible speech" system to teach deaf-mute children.

In 1870, he emigrated to Canada and then the U.S., where he set up a school in Boston to train teachers of the deaf. By 1875, he had invented a simple receiver that could turn electricity into sound and in March 1876 he was granted the patent for the telephone. The Bell telephone Company was created in 1877. He became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1882 and is also credited with founding the National Geographic Society.


Television - John Logie Baird

July 1926: Scottish electrical engineer and television pioneer John Logie Baird (1888 - 1946) with his 'televisor'.
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Scottish engineer John Logie Baird is at the origin of many of the firsts in television history.

After years of research, he beat several scientists by giving the world's first demonstration of a television in 1926. A year later, he was the first to transmit a long-distance television signal over the 438 miles separating London to Glasgow and in 1928, he made the first transatlantic television transmission, from London to Hartsdale, New York as well as the first television program for the BBC.

While the crux of his work was on the mechanical system, Baird also ventured into the electronic system and in 1944, he gave the world's first demonstration of a fully electronic television display. He died two years later, aged 57.

Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

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It was while studying medicine that Arthur Conan Doyle first developed a taste for writing but it was only after graduating and establishing his practice in 1882 that he began to seriously write fiction.

Sherlock Holmes came to life in 1886, modelled after one of Conan Doyle's university professors. A sequel was commissioned and the public was hooked. But Doyle's relationship with his famous creation was sometimes strained. In a bid to stop writing the sleuth's exploits, he hiked up his commission and when that failed, he killed off Holmes. But public outcry was such that he ended up resurrecting the detective.

According to the Guinness World Records, Sherlock Holmes has had more film and TV portrayals than any other literary character.


Logarithms – John Napier

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John Napier was the father of logarithms in the 1600s, a key breakthrough in math history -- and cause of many a kid's headache.

In the sixteenth and early seventeenth century, multiplication and division of complex sums was a laborious task without the modern technology of a calculator. Logarithms were the answer to that.

Napier, who was a member of the Scottish gentry, has been hailed as laying the groundwork for developments such as Isaac Newton's theory on gravity.


Modern theory of economics – Adam Smith

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Adam Smith's economic writings earned him the title of "father of modern economics".

The man who graces the U.K.'s £20 note, was known for his study entitled "An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations", which was published in 1776.

The work advocates a free market economy and the theory that pursuit of individual self-interest benefited the common good.

Smith studied at the University of Glasgow at the age of 14 and then moved to Balliol College in Oxford.


Bank of England – William Paterson

The Bank of England
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Ironically, it was a Scotsman, William Paterson, who founded the Bank of England, established in 1694 and arguably pushed Scotland to join up with England in the first place .

Convinced of the need for a central bank, Paterson, who had been involved in allegations of piracy when he lived to the Bahamas, proposed a £1.2 million loan to the government. The Bank of England was set up through a Royal Charter that same year and Paterson become one of the directors, until he was ousted in 1695 due to a financial scandal.

Paterson had always been involved in controversy. He floated the idea of setting up a colony in Darien, an area on the Isthmus of Panama, which he said would speed up global trade, despite Spain having control of that land.

Scottish citizens poured money into this venture. But when travellers arrived in Panama, many died from disease and run-ins with the Spanish army. A large amount of money was lost and Scotland became bankrupt.

With the promise of having its debt paid off, Scotland was effectively forced to sign the Act of Union in 1707 which joined the country with England.


Buick Motor Company - David Dunbar Buick

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The famous line of Buick cars was named after inventor David Dunbar Buick.

He moved from Scotland to the United States in 1856, and 20 years later he started a company that made plumbing equipment.

His interest in automobiles started to increase and in 1902 formed the Buick Manufacturing Company. The following year he built his first automobile.

William Durant, the founder of General Motors, invested in the company, and by 1906, Buick had lost control of the company and was forced out.


New York Herald newspaper - James Gordon Bennett

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At a time when America's press was dealing with technological changes, Scottish immigrant James Gordon Bennett founded the New York Herald in 1835.

His insistence of sending reporters around to different locations and ensuring they sent their dispatches back first was groundbreaking. U.S. papers had been known to just reprint news from other papers in different cities.

The New York Herald came to be known for its neutral stance and dealt with the technological developments such as the telegraph and high speed printing press.