this post was submitted on 12 Aug 2026
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Piggybacking on @GMac's excellent comment, here's some additional detail:
Alexander Fleming (Scottish) - penicillin
John Shepherd-Barron (English) - ATM (although this was a synthesis of many previous inventions/ concepts from other countries)
James Clerk Maxwell (Scot) - colour photography
Da Vinci (modern day Italy) - contact lenses
Alexander Cumming (scot) - S-bend
Various nationalities helped develop the internal combustion engine
Robert William Thomson (scot) - pneumatic tyre
Penicillin - fantastic one!
Atm - sure, i suppose it meets the criteria. Its not quite to the same level of societal change i was talking about, but it certainly did significantly change how people go about their day around the world. So it totally counts.
All the rest - are over 100 years old
But the penicillin one is ultra life-changing all around the world