电灯泡

Electric Light Bulb
电灯泡

They say …
他们说:

Thomas Alva Edison invented the light bulb. He began his experiments in 1878 and by 21 October 1879 he made a working electric light bulb. Fine, but …
托马斯-爱迪生发明了灯泡,他从1878年开始试验,到1879年的10月21日发明了一个可以正常工作的电灯泡。但是——

Brits say …
英国人说:

Sir Joseph Swan of Newcastle announced that he had made a working light bulb on 18 December 1878 and on 18 January 1879 he gave a public demonstration in Sunderland – 10 months before Edison. The Americans say it was just a working model and not a commercial reality … but then they would say that, wouldn’t they?
英国纽卡斯尔的约瑟夫-斯旺爵士说,他在1878年的12月18日就已经发明了一个可以使用的电灯泡了,并且在1879年的1月18日拿到英国桑德兰市做过公开展出,足足比爱迪生早了10个月。但是美国人却说,斯旺爵士的灯泡只是一个模型,而不能用作商业生产。美国人一定会这样说的,是不?

电话

Telephone
电话

They say …
他们说:

The first telephone message was made at 5 Exeter Place, Boston, Massachusetts on 10 March 1876. Alexander Graham Bell called to his assistant, “Come here, Watson, I want you.” But …
1876年3月10日,在美国马萨诸塞州波士顿市的艾塞克特,亚历山大-贝尔用他发明的电话机对助手喊了一句“到这里来,沃森,我需要你。”这就是通过电话说的第一句话。但是——

Brits say …
英国人说:

Alexander Graham Bell was born in 1847 in Edinburgh, Scotland. He moved to Canada when he was 23 and only then migrated to the USA. He was British so Brits can rightly claim the telephone is a British invention.
贝尔是在1847年出生在苏格兰爱丁堡。23岁时才搬去了加拿大,后来移民去了美国。所以,贝尔是英国人!英国人有理由说电话是英国人发明的。

小轿车

Motor car
小轿车

They say …
他们说:

Karl Benz created the first motor car in Germany in 1889. It covered just over half a mile at nine miles per hour. People have been driving Mercedes Benz cars ever since – usually slower than nine miles an hour in rush hour traffic. But …
1889年卡尔-奔驰在德国发明了第一辆小轿车。当时,这辆车只开了半英里(约0.8公里),时速为9英里(约14.5公里)。从此之后,人们就开始开奔驰轿车了,有时候在上下班高峰,车速还不到9公里每小时呢。但是——

Brits say …
英国人说:

180 years before, in 1711, Christopher Holtum demonstrated a horseless carriage. It gave demonstrations under the piazzas at Covent Garden and travelled at six miles an hour.
180年前,也就是1711年,克里斯多夫-霍尔通在伦敦的科芬园露天广场上展示了一辆轿车,这辆轿车的时速可以达到6英里(约9.6公里)。

飞机

Powered flight
动力飞机

They say …
他们说:

The first successful flight occurred on December 17, 1903 in North Carolina. But hang on … the Wrights may have made “The first successful flight” but they could not claim “the invention of the first powered airplane” because …
1903年12月17日,在美国北卡罗来纳州,莱特兄弟进行了第一次成功的飞机飞行。但是,第一架动力飞机却不是他们发明的,因为——

Brits say …
英国人说:

Brit Percy Pilcher designed a powered triplane and built it in 1899. By the last day of September 1899, Pilcher's powered triplane was very nearly ready for flight, but on that day Pilcher was gliding in his "Hawk." His previously reliable "Hawk" suffered a structural failure, fell, and Pilcher died two days later. Pilcher's powered triplane was never flown. But the “invention” beat the Americans by 4 years.
英国人珀西-皮尔彻在1899年设计并制作了一架动力三翼飞机。本来在当年的9月30号,这架三翼飞机是可以飞起来的,但是皮尔彻那天只是乘着他的“老鹰”滑翔了一阵而已。因为皮尔彻在此之前造的一架“老鹰”由于结构问题而掉了下来,皮尔彻在这次事故之后两天就去世了。所以,皮尔彻的三翼飞机再也没有机会飞起来了。不过,他的这个“发明”可比美国人早了4年。

收音机

Radio
收音机

They say …
他们说:

On 23 July 1866 Mahlon Loomis of Washington DC described how to send signals by radio. That October he achieved it in Virginia. In 1896 Guliemo Marconi won even greater fame for sending a wireless telegraph over 94 miles. But …
1866年7月23日,马伦-卢米斯在美国华盛顿特区向世人展示了怎样通过收音机发送信号。同年10月,他就在弗吉尼亚州收到了发送过来的信号。到了1896年,伽利尔摩-马可尼更是通过发送了一份无线电报到94英里以外的地方而声名大噪。但是——

Brits say …
英国人说:

David Edward Hughes is recorded as the Welshman who became the first person in the world to transmit and receive radio waves. Evans, resident of North Wales, designed the synchronous type-printing telegraph in 1856. Yet another British first.
威尔士人大卫-爱德华-休斯是世界上第一个传送并接收到无线电波的人。居住在北威尔士的埃文斯在1856年设计出一种同步印字电报,这也是英国人第一个发明的。

断头台

断头台

They say…
他们说:

During the French Revolution M. Guillotin invented a machine for slicing off heads quickly and painlessly. It was pretty successful – though not quite so clean-cut as some people imagine. It took a couple of chops to get through fat King Louis’ neck. But the idea was 500 years after a British invention.
在法国大革命期间,一个叫做吉约坦的男人发明了一个机器,可以迅速砍下人的脑袋,而且被砍头的人也不会感觉痛苦。这个机器很成功,但并没有想象中来的那么干净利落。据说,法国国王路易十六被砍头的时候,挨了好几刀才最终砍了下来。但是,早在500年前,英国人就已经发明了断头台。

Brits say…
英国人说:

The Guillotine wasn’t a French invention. There was one in Halifax, West Yorkshire, from the 13th to the 17th century. The earliest recorded execution was in 1286. For hundreds of years the law stated that if a condemned person could withdraw his or her head after the blade was released and before it hit the bottom, then he or she was free. The good old British idea of a “sporting chance”.
断头台不是法国人发明的,在公元13世纪到17世纪之间,在英国西约克郡的哈利法克斯就已经有断头台了。斩首的记录最早出现在1286年。在这几百年间,当时的法律规定,只要被判刑的人能够在铡刀落下去之后,把头从断头台上抽出来的,这人就可以无罪释放。看来英国人崇尚“胜负各半”的风俗从那时起就有了。

英国发明

So forget the Wright Brothers, Marconi, Thomas Edison and Monsieur Guillotin. All they had was good PR. In their own quiet, modest way the Brits were always there first.
所以,忘了怀特兄弟、马可尼、爱迪生和吉约坦吧,他们只不过比较会来事,宣传做的好而已。英国人呢,爱低调、爱谦虚,其实这些东西都是英国人第一个发明的。