Railway enthusiast, music lover, and the man who gave us stereo sound.
Alan Blumlein (1903-1942) is the acknowledged father of stereophonic sound recording. There were others working on stereo, notably Arthur Keller in the USA, but Blumlein was the first man to patent stereo recording equipment, and the man whose ideas best stood the test of time.
Max fully deserves his reputation as England’s greatest all-round sportsman.
Maxwell (Max) Woosnam was born in Liverpool, but brought up in Aberhafesp, Mid Wales. His father, a senior clergyman in the Church of England, sent him to the prestigious school Winchester College, where young Max embarked on an extraordinary sporting career.
One of the twentieth century’s greatest pianists, who put himself and his art at the service of his adopted country.
Benno Moiseiwitsch (1890-1963) was born in Odessa in the Russian Empire, but settled in England with his family when he was eight. He became one of the twentieth century’s truly great pianists, and his selfless contribution to his adopted country in the two World Wars went far beyond the call of duty.
An improbable chain of coincidences led to one of the great medical revolutions just when it was most needed.
Alexander Fleming (1881-1955) discovered the principle underlying antibiotics, a genuine medical revolution, and it all happened by accident. But whereas the excitable Archimedes cried ‘Eureka!’ on making his famous discovery, Scotsman Fleming muttered a more British ‘That’s funny’.