電燈泡

Electric Light Bulb
電燈泡

They say …
他們說：

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 …
托馬斯-愛迪生發(fā)明了燈泡，他從1878年開始試驗，到1879年的10月21日發(fā)明了一個可以正常工作的電燈泡。但是——

Brits say …
英國人說：

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?
英國紐卡斯爾的約瑟夫-斯旺爵士說，他在1878年的12月18日就已經發(fā)明了一個可以使用的電燈泡了，并且在1879年的1月18日拿到英國桑德蘭市做過公開展出，足足比愛迪生早了10個月。但是美國人卻說，斯旺爵士的燈泡只是一個模型，而不能用作商業(yè)生產。美國人一定會這樣說的，是不？

電話

Telephone
電話

They say …
他們說：

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，在美國馬薩諸塞州波士頓市的艾塞克特，亞歷山大-貝爾用他發(fā)明的電話機對助手喊了一句“到這里來，沃森，我需要你?！边@就是通過電話說的第一句話。但是——

Brits say …
英國人說：

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.
貝爾是在1847年出生在蘇格蘭愛丁堡。23歲時才搬去了加拿大，后來移民去了美國。所以，貝爾是英國人！英國人有理由說電話是英國人發(fā)明的。

小轎車

Motor car
小轎車

They say …
他們說：

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年卡爾-奔馳在德國發(fā)明了第一輛小轎車。當時，這輛車只開了半英里（約0.8公里），時速為9英里（約14.5公里）。從此之后，人們就開始開奔馳轎車了，有時候在上下班高峰，車速還不到9公里每小時呢。但是——

Brits say …
英國人說：

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-霍爾通在倫敦的科芬園露天廣場上展示了一輛轎車，這輛轎車的時速可以達到6英里（約9.6公里）。

飛機

Powered flight
動力飛機

They say …
他們說：

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，在美國北卡羅來納州，萊特兄弟進行了第一次成功的飛機飛行。但是，第一架動力飛機卻不是他們發(fā)明的，因為——

Brits say …
英國人說：

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.
英國人珀西-皮爾徹在1899年設計并制作了一架動力三翼飛機。本來在當年的9月30號，這架三翼飛機是可以飛起來的，但是皮爾徹那天只是乘著他的“老鷹”滑翔了一陣而已。因為皮爾徹在此之前造的一架“老鷹”由于結構問題而掉了下來，皮爾徹在這次事故之后兩天就去世了。所以，皮爾徹的三翼飛機再也沒有機會飛起來了。不過，他的這個“發(fā)明”可比美國人早了4年。

收音機

Radio
收音機

They say …
他們說：

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，馬倫-盧米斯在美國華盛頓特區(qū)向世人展示了怎樣通過收音機發(fā)送信號。同年10月，他就在弗吉尼亞州收到了發(fā)送過來的信號。到了1896年，伽利爾摩-馬可尼更是通過發(fā)送了一份無線電報到94英里以外的地方而聲名大噪。但是——

Brits say …
英國人說：

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.
威爾士人大衛(wèi)-愛德華-休斯是世界上第一個傳送并接收到無線電波的人。居住在北威爾士的埃文斯在1856年設計出一種同步印字電報，這也是英國人第一個發(fā)明的。

斷頭臺

斷頭臺

They say…
他們說：

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.
在法國大革命期間，一個叫做吉約坦的男人發(fā)明了一個機器，可以迅速砍下人的腦袋，而且被砍頭的人也不會感覺痛苦。這個機器很成功，但并沒有想象中來的那么干凈利落。據說，法國國王路易十六被砍頭的時候，挨了好幾刀才最終砍了下來。但是，早在500年前，英國人就已經發(fā)明了斷頭臺。

Brits say…
英國人說：

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”.
斷頭臺不是法國人發(fā)明的，在公元13世紀到17世紀之間，在英國西約克郡的哈利法克斯就已經有斷頭臺了。斬首的記錄最早出現(xiàn)在1286年。在這幾百年間，當時的法律規(guī)定，只要被判刑的人能夠在鍘刀落下去之后，把頭從斷頭臺上抽出來的，這人就可以無罪釋放?？磥碛顺缟小皠儇摳靼搿钡娘L俗從那時起就有了。

英國發(fā)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，忘了懷特兄弟、馬可尼、愛迪生和吉約坦吧，他們只不過比較會來事，宣傳做的好而已。英國人呢，愛低調、愛謙虛，其實這些東西都是英國人第一個發(fā)明的。