The British in Diary

I saw an American women comment on something saying that British culture is incredibly dull and bland, and the USA is made up of all the people who were “sensible enough to leave”

For some reason there was no option to reply, but this really wound me up. So I’m going to rant about it here instead. How ironic that she was posting this on the World Wide Web, using a computer, which she is powering using electricity. ALL OF WHICH WERE INVENTED OR DISCOVERED BY BRITISH PEOPLE.

Yes I’ve been petty enough to make a list of some of the most famous British people and British inventions, which I am going to post below.

William Shakespeare, William Wordsworth, Geoffrey Chaucer, JRR Tolkien, JK Rowling, Roald Dahl, Jane Austen, Brontë sisters, Ian Fleming, George Orwell, Agatha Christie, Lewis Carroll, Beatrix Potter, Mary Shelley, Bram Stoker

BBC, Ricky Gervais, Monty Python, Red Dwarf

Telephone, TV, computers, internet, vaccines, electricity, telescope, toothbrush, steam engine, electric motor, waterproof, passenger train, photography, antibiotics, jet engine. A lot of western culture wouldn’t exist at all if it wasn’t for most of these things as a HUGE part of our culture relies on computers, the internet, electricity, T.V and photography.

Charles Darwin, Stephen Hawking, Alexander Fleming, Alan Turing, Michael Faraday, Rosalind Franklin, Isaac Newton

Rock, metal, punk, Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Beatles, Rolling Stones, Elton John, Queen, David Bowie, Adele, Sting, Kate Bush, Rod Stewart, Ed Sheeran, Tom Jones, Peter Gabriel, The Who

Christian Bale, Tom Hardy, Benedict Cumberbatch, Michael Caine, Ewan McGregor, Cillian Murphy, Idris Elba, Tom Hiddlestone, Ralph Fiennes, Daniel Radcliffe, Kate Winslet, Colin Firth, Sir Ian McKellen, Sir Patrick Stewart, Jude Law, Sean Connery, Judy Dench, Maggie Smith, Hugh Grant, Ben Kingsley, Liam Neeson, Kenneth Branagh, Alec Guinness, Alan Rickman, John Cleese, Cary Grant, Rowan Atkinson, Charles Dance, Michael Gambon, Bill Nighy, David Tennant, Charlie Chaplin, Laurel and Hardy, Daniel Day-Lewis

Football, rugby, golf, cricket, tennis, curling, snooker, darts, hockey, table tennis, badminton, netball, squash, bobsleigh, boxing.

Just look how dull and boring we are!

ETA Obviously this isn’t a full and comprehensive list of every British person that contributed to our culture, this is just what came out of my brain as I was writing it. If there are any errors, I’m sorry, I’m not an expert. If there are more English people / things on this list, that will be because England has a higher population than Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland. There are no sportspeople on this list because I know nothing about sport, but I did include all the “big” sports that were invented by the British. Do not be offended.

Last updated February 04, 2024