American Reacts to What Did the British Ever do For Us 

We invented orderly, efficient, respectful queuing too. Nobody forms a queue as well as we do! 😂

We did abolish slavery too!

I walk my dog past Stephenson’s cottage every week. A humble little house in the North East of England. He invented the railways!

The greatest gift was not ending slavery but introducing English common law to the world.

Don't despair, Americans. You gave us the nacho cheese pump and reverse baseball cap.

British Inventions were genius. Britain invented the WWI tank, only allied force who had tanks, and the agile tanks called "whippets"

Not bad for a little island.🇬🇧

He forgot ATMs this was an English invention in 1967 , Barclays Bank had the first one.

Congratulations on 100k , well deserved

The invention of modern float glass was invented in Pilkington's glass in Saint Helens which is 5 miles from where I live.

All humans are colonisers, because none remain in the original homeland of the species. Colonisation is just the natural expansion of successful populations, along with normal curiosity & the yearning for exploration. The British were fortunate in their islands, in a temperate zone, with all the necessary resources quite close together to produce what was needed to spur innovation. But it was the British peoples attitude of a spirit of independence, a reluctance to accept authority, born of the long struggle to defend & maintain themselves in the islands, that gave them the spark of invention & innovation. This accorded with the Protestant work ethic, breaking the stultifying traditions of the Catholic Church, & the advance toward the Enlightenment, which promoted the new sciences & technological advances. As far as the British Empire, & it's 'evils' are concerned, the rule & actions of the British were certainly no worse, & often much better, than those of other nations. The Spaniards & French for instance which much more brutal than the British, while independent USA continued to ride roughshod over the indigenous peoples rights in North America. Add to this the British drive to end slavery around the world, & to reform many savage practices, & ending tribal wars, in the lands they controlled, & the introduction of a system of laws based on English Common Law, & the idea of Parliamentary democracy, with the spread of technology etc to all these places, then I think you will find that the British have done quite well. You must remember that what became the USA was British for some 150 years or more before independence, & that was a group of Brits asserting their independence over a Government that they had problems with, a long standing British tradition, not something newly created among 'Americans', but also remember that many colonists remained loyal to Britain, & were made to suffer for this by the revolutionaries.

refrigeration- another Scot. invented out of necessity as he was pioneering the process of liquifying air and other gasses.

Yes we did invent life the first “ Test Tube” baby was formed in the UK 1978 Manchester😊

I think we’re just stubborn and keep going no matter what

Colonisation has many sides to it, good and bad. Also, Britain still has the best designers,engineers, and scientists per capita of anywhere else in the world. Still, about 50% of all new innovations come out of Britain, well, at least partly.

I hate it when people say just ‘colonialism was bad’ - it’s not as simple as that and a LOT of good things came out of it which people just seem to deny. And people pretend that before the British colonised a country, that said country was an idyllic place to live which is just not true. I think it’s just fashionable at the moment to hate on the British and to be quite frank, I think a lot of people are deeply resentful that such a small island has contributed SO much to the world. Have you noticed - the best countries in the world always receive the harshest criticisms? So I think, as an English woman, criticise all you like, whatever helps you sleep at night. I don’t need you to give my country and praise or appreciation, I have a quiet pride in my country, as I know so many others do.

Just because he asked, the first computer was built by Charles Babbage in 1822. It’s a mechanical device and I think it’s in the British Museum. He was a Londoner.

Came to this late so not sure you will read this, but you asked where the computer originated from. It was a mathematician, philosopher, inventor and mechanical engineer called Charles Babbage. He originated the concept of a digital programmable computer, and yes, he was a Brit born in London on 26th December 1791 and is also called the Farther of Computing. It was from this Alan Turin created the Turin Machine. From that, all modern day computers was born.

The Fella with the accent mentioned, Cats Eyes. I’m from Halifax, where they were invented!! They were invented by a chap called Percy Shaw, his factory was up Boothtown. It’s still there…!

Every county has done bad things but not all done as many good things as us

Ada Lovelace was the inventor of the first programming language. As a computer programmer I really appreciate her.

*We were not responsible for the Bengal famine.*

The most humbling thing I experienced about standing in Westminster Abbey, was being near the burial locations of Charles Darwin and Issac Newton.

The British had all kinds of advantages : its an island, not constantly warding off invasions by neighbours Its an island , so seafaring gets you everywhere cheaply Education was always pretty good, even in 17th century most people could read. Although there was a ruling class, they somehow managed to avoid being beheaded ( as in France) partly by playing cricket with the proles Coal and iron ore are quite close to one another - relatively easy to make and transport steel The financial services needed to set up stocks and shares were established early, and were run effectively due to stable government - which fostered entrepreneurship, and eventually a trading empire . The national character is often cited, hard to know why the British just got on with stuff, and generally did it well.

You're welcome 😉

Bletchley Park, which served as the government’s code-breaking HQ during WW2, is worth a visit. It’s about an hour from London by train. Aside from the original buildings and artefacts used during the war, you can see a modern build of the Colossus computer used to decode the German Enigma code.

Did he mention television, or did I miss that? Not science, but almost every ball game came out of Britain as well.

The Bengal famine wasn’t caused by the Brits. There is often famines in that region whether we were there or not we did however give India the railways and modern infrastructure which has made them a modern day world power so you’re welcome India.

As a retired professor I can elevate your final thoughts and validate them with a phrase I often used whenever or wherever I lectured around the world: "Every plan will work, until you involve other human beings." As a philosopher, when I watched your very enjoyable video, I reminded myself that all these scientific inventions initially started in philosophy. And that, as an analogy, philosophy is the bottle from which the wine of all human achievements flow. Whether it be education, entertainment, trade, health, organisation (structures), and of course, science. Keep curious ;)

Oh by the way the piston was invented by a French man who happened to live in England

Frank Whittle first designed the Jet engine but after taking out a patent he let it lapse and a German was also responsible after using Frank Whittles design .

Some one brought us a teas made for a wedding present it was great being woken up to a freshly made cuppa tea ☕️ It was on our bedside table. But the steam from it started to steam the wall paper off 🤣🤣🤣

I’m not sure if anyone answered this already but the picture with Newton holding the prism? He used it to demonstrate that light was not pure white but is made up of all the colours of the rainbow. By scientifically establishing our visible spectrum, Newton laid the path for others to experiment with color in a scientific manner. His work led to breakthroughs in optics, physics, chemistry, perception, and the study of colour in nature.

The WWW is amazing, powerful, and very, very useful. But the most important thing about the WWW for people is being able to leave it alone for a few hours.

My Country man, Scottish physician and microbiologist, best known for discovering the world's first broadly effective antibiotic substance, which he named penicillin in 1928.

I think us Brits are so inventive because the weather is so bad we stay indoors wondering ' what can i invent now?'

13:48 My father was Head of Chemistry at Luton Grammar School (which became Luton 6th form College) from January 1st 1965 until he retired in 1989. During this time I was also a chemistry student there myself and my mother was a laboratory assistant in the chemistry department. Alec Jeffreys attended as a student and went on to Oxford University. He eventually pioneered DNA profiling at Leicester University and in 1987 he worked with police in the first ever use of DNA profiling in a criminal case. Hundreds of men in the Leicester area in central England were tested in order to track down the rapist and murderer of two young women. Eventually Colin Pitchfork was captured as a result of the testing, having aroused suspicion by trying to get someone else to take the test in his place.

10:17 I've seen that at Bletchley Park, it's HUGE!

One missed is 19th century Lord Kelvin for all things temperature and thermal physics. And its use in the mechanical ice maker/fridge using the triple point phase diagram of certain materials. Solid/liquid/gas. Early fridges and aircon, units where called Kelvinators

There are numerous inventions he couldn't get through. Hydraulics, the next time you press your brakes and stop, thank the British. Pneumatics, the next time you corner in your car and don't crash thank the British, What about electrolysis? There would be no chromium plating, anodising etc. etc. What about the friction match, not that important now but at one time it was in the top ten of inventions of all time. Honestly, it's endless.

Should also mention that the music for The Star Spangled Banner was written by a Brit: John Stafford Smith.

He forgot IVF . 😊

A friend of my family a older lady from Birmingham told me she remembers her mom wrapping her in a blanket and going down to the shelter. A bow and arrow is a good workout mate

THIS guy sure has a good Aussie accent

If we modern Brits must take blame for the Empire we should take credit for all this stuff!

The American education system, at least in terms of history is abysmal, I know a lad who moved here from Virginia, said it was the best life decision he ever made. He watched this same video and he said in their schools, they don't teach this kind of stuff, he said the only real history you're taught is the Revolutionary War and they actually lie, well, he didnt say they lie, he said that they overexaggerate what happened that led to the U.S's independence. He said they basically tell you that the U.S evicted the U.K single handedly, when in reality, the U.K withdrew to save resources and prepare and deal with the upcoming war against France, he said you had to stand and sing the national anthem in front of the U.S's national flag at school and if you didn't, it was frowned upon, he said it's almost as if they are trying to indoctrinate school children in to being patriotic before they even know the meaning of the word. 🤷🏻🤷🏻 To me, I think it's a very strange way of conducting an education system.

Probably the greatest omission from this list is hydraulics, invented by one of the greatest inventors, Sir William Armstrong. The hydraulics were initially powered by water but he proved the efficiency of his invention by converting all of the cranes in Newcastle's docks. I don't think that there is anything at all built in the world today without the use of hydraulics.

Heart surgery, enabling women who needed fertility help IVF

We have often been called " a nation of shopkeepers ", the British Empire was based on trade! Even today most of the old empire countries are still working together, the commonwealth is basically a friendly trade organisation actually headed by King Charles ( who is not only the head of state of the UK, but many other countries! ) LOL

It was actually Manchester that was the heart of the industrial revolution. Trafford Park was the first ever industrial estate.

Yea we're just great basically

Don't forget Marmite! Also, going back to what you said right at the end... The Brits were not the only nation at that time that were colonising. The French, Dutch Spanish etc were all doing the same thing. The Brits just did it 'better' so are the ones everyone looks at and comments on first. It was just how the world worked backed then, however the pros massively out way to cons when it comes to the history of Britain.

Hi JPS. I noticed in the list of scientists and engineers, the name of a Scotsman called James Clerk Maxwell. There is a brilliant video about this man. Scotland History Tours - The Greatest Scientist in History, James Clerk Maxwell. The video was made by Bruce Fummey, who has a wonderful way of telling a story, interesting and funny at the same time. I would highly recommend this video to watch in your spare time. (Bruce also shares many other stories like The Scottish Samurai, and The Man who Played the Bagpipes at the Alamo).

Lets also remember what britain did for slavery. I.e. basically stopping it globally. Britain used its navy to blocade the transatlantic slave trade, and also spent a huge amount of it's aquired wealth to buy, then free slaves. Britains contributions to the modern world are gigatic.

Part of the reason for Britian`s development is that, unlike most other Eurpean countries, we were not invaded again after 1066 and no wars were fought here after the Civil War 1642-50. This saved a great deal of time, money and lives, freeing people to experiment.

Fascinating entertaining and informative video. You should do a deep dive into the history of the TANK and Winston Churchill's role in the invention of LAND SHIPS...

we also created the radio, checkout Marconies in chelmsford, essex. always been a known building in my home town

Not bad for a damp little island While everyone else was having political revolutions the uk had an industrial revolution

According to a group of Japanese researchers Britain has been responsible for over 40% of all the world's discoveries and inventions. 😊

Not bad at all for the size of that little island well done guys 🎉

I’m a born and bred Londoner and it still does my head in when you put the list of British achievements together, not being nationalist, it’s just odd how things fell together! I’d add the Hovercraft to the list.

Hi Joel, from South Yorkshire Great Britain.

Anaesthetic. Surgery. Central banking. Live animal cloning. Laws of electro-magnetism. Pneumatic tyres. MRIs. Fingerprint classification. The fridge. Colour photography. And those are just some of the Scottish inventions missed out.

In this very good roundup of our transport contributions he missed out Sir Christopher Cockerill's invention of the hovercraft and the Hawker Siddley company's invention of the first viable vertical take-off and landing jet aircraft, which became the Harrier "jump jet" still in use by the US Marine Corps.

Thank you for playing this video. I am a Brit but didn't know about some of these British inventions. Very interesting. On a personal level I advise you slow down and take a break if you can . Working hard is admirable but not to the detriment of your health. Just granny advice. X

Football, Tennis, Golf, Rugby, Modern Athletics, Darts, Snooker, Pool.

We discovered your Country... For You 😊😊😊😊

geology and paleontology the study of weather the RSPB (Royal Society for the Protection of Birds)which is indicative of an understanding of protecting the environment to add to the list

You almost hit the nail on the head, we should all learn history and use it to learn from our mistakes, the problem and it's the biggest problem we have today it's using history to point fingers and impress blame on cultures to get what people want take slavery for example, whenever you mention slavery everyone always thinks of the slave trade from Africa to America, forgetting the fact that slavery has existed as long as there have been people and still continues to this day. Yes Britain went and conquered large parts of the world but they also took the technology that we had, education, health improvements better farming practises etc the list goes on I could sit here and preach about how the Welsh have been surprised by the English for thousands of years and to a small extent we still are as we're not an independent country but what's the point of that, yet Americans take a large issue with the British even though most of them are direct descendants and enjoy the same modern principles due to the values taken over by the founding fathers etc etc etc. everyone just needs to be more grateful for where we are today and how much easier life is due to the hard work and suffering of everyone's ancestors which was necessary for the world we have today

The first computer was invented by the British, look up Charles Babbage and Ada Lovelace in the 19th Century. The computer is still in the Liverpool Science museum.

3:57 actually pretty impressed you knew that the industrial revolution came mainly from Birmingham (and the surrounding area) , Fun fact , the Black Country (Wolverhampton , West Bromwich , Walsall) are called the black country because back when the industrial revolution was in its infancy If you was to live or even visit there you'd end up with a black layer of dirt/sut on your slon from all the factory's, which also emiited dark black smog in the area, also Bir-Ming-HAM is not the correct pronounactian , The real way to pronounce the city is buh·ming·uhm or simply Bur-Min-Um

In just 200 years, the British advanced America by 4000 years! The native Americans never made it past the Stone Age!

The most interesting part of this video is, it makes me think of the present day, feminist movement. In the west, today's modern feminist, say that, "men are not needed, and women don't need men". This video should be required viewing in schools, especially for girls. Perhaps give them more of an understanding, why men are needed. I didn't see any women mentioned in this video, it was all men.

If you dont remember anything else from this video, remember this the British gave you the language you speak and think in . So the British with this one thing Language are still conquering the world.

what didn't the British do would be an easier question to answer. 10:40 the 1st programmable computer was invented by Charles Babbage an Englishman from London. (it was purely mechanical) he is considered the father of the computer. so yeah brits invented computers too :) Isaac Newton invented calculus. logarithms were also invented by the brits (John Napier, A Scotsman) he is also credited with bringing the decimal point into common use.

just looking at all the comments below makes me proud to be who i am .cheers

Hi Joel, I am glad you were impressed with this video, but there is a mistake which I would like to address, Frank Whittle invented the jet engine in the late 1920s, but was ridiculed by the RAF, for whom he worked and so didn't patent his invention, it wasn't until a German saw his work and patened it himself that the RAF woke up and had him build hs original engine, which flew in the Glouster Metior at the last year of the war.

10:48 it was in pretty sure it was by Alan Turing you’ve probably heard of running this channel but it’s if you haven’t heard is also famous for the enigma machine and because he was gay and autistic. After the war when they found out he was gay they said that they had to either take away his computer or put him on anti-gay medication but he lived the computer so he took the medication. He killed himself for it. Very sad, I think that’s what happened because of a film made a few years ago with Benedict Cumberbatch, good film

10:31 - ROOM SIZED COMPUTERS - Back in the day, when these room-sized computers were built with transistors, a moth flew in through a window and got trapped between one of the transistor connections, causing the program to fail. One of the female operators used a pair of tweeers to remove the moth so the computer could function correctly. This was the first recorded case of someone de-bugging a computer.

when he talked about those countries he was referring to the fact they wouldn't exist without the british colonization countries like Australia and New Zealand for instance and even India wouldn't exist if the british didn't unify it conquering all the small kingdoms that existed in the indian sub continent before their arrival.

19:16 It is important that we acknowledge what we did in those years and too many people try to protect it, or whitewash it. Acknowledging our horrid past allows us to learn and move forwards without repeating mistakes.

He actually thinks of England invented other countries😂😂😂

The wealth generated by the empire gave rise to gentlemen scientists, who had the money to tinker, giving rise to the industrial revolution, which in turn made the empire still more lucrative. Even as the empire has declined, there's still a base of scientific expertise in Britain which kept the innovations coming but now there's less opportunity to monetise them. Britain's finances have been in decline for a century now so you'd have to expect less in the way of innovation going forward. There are outliers (e g. Graphene), but further advances now need huge teams and lots of money so you have to wonder how long is left.

The reason Britain did so well at this time was the British had the Best Navy and ship

As a brit myself I'll just say nobody is perfect!!! Note he did say contributed!

Us Brits had to give our design of the first aircraft to break the sound barrier to the yanks, but that was Churchills fault.

One of the worst things we did was spread cricket around the world, also piracy, drug dealing, slavery.

Regards = Alan from Dover also known to many Yanks as " Hell Fire Corner " Ask you elders :o)

Of the inventions and discovery mentioned. 85% were by Scotland. Just one of the countries of Great Britain. 19:08

The USA was influenced by the Britain cause some of your founding fathers had British ancestors and they sent people over to the uk to learn our ways and they also use to talk to people over in Britain so yeah the USA was influenced by us and with everything we invented

Midlands? Steel ships, bikes, propeller, buses, combustion engine, replicating machine making the industrial revolution possible, pneumatic tyre, tar mac, waterproof clothing, tvs, ATMs, DNA cloning, fridges, toasters, radar, phones, flasks,........not English. Not the midlands. They are all Scottish.

I would say every eminent power or empire tends to invent things.

In general, the Brit’s invented or discovered the science that was the basis of just about everything that we use or need to support our questionable civilization then the entrepreneurial Americans developed monetized and exponentially expanded everything.

The Americans are taught that they invented everything, so it's a surprise and shock when they find out it was The United Kingdom. A little Island with a Big brain. Your summing up was Intelligent and sincere,

I suggest you search a video called The Best Places To Visit In Birmingham.

It's not just a case of a small country but the population was also small, ie 1750 the pop was approx 7m whereas France at that time had a pop of over 25m

National Parks, Scottish invented.

I think Britains proudest achievement was to pretty much end slavery worldwide. That never gets mentioned !

We also were the first country to abolish slavery, and no we didn't invent it, see the Egyptians, Persians and Romans and many others.

American constitution takes a lot from magna carta, they erected a monument at runnymead where it was signed, 1215 ? Correct me if im wrong