Broadband Internet access has been named the ‘Mother of all technological inventions’ in a poll commissioned by Virgin Media. Nearly 40% of Brits believe that broadband has had the biggest impact on our lives, beating off close competition from the mobile phone (25%) and sat nav (8%).

The Virgin Media study was conducted to mark a new advertising campaign for the UK’s largest residential broadband provider entitled ‘The Mother of all Broadband’:


Wartime Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill also won the accolade of ‘Mother of all Britons’ in the survey of over 2,000 people. Almost 23% of the nation consider the World War II leader and Nobel Prize winner the ultimate Brit, beating The Queen (18%) and William Shakespeare (10%) who fall in second and third place respectively.

As far as British ingenuity is concerned, the research revealed over one in five (21%) believe George Stephenson, inventor of the first steam locomotive engine, is the ‘Mother of all British inventors’, one per cent ahead of Alexander Graham Bell who invented the telephone. Responsible for some of the most influential inventions of all time, pioneer of the television John Logie Baird (11%), creator of the programmable computer Charles Babbage (9%) and inventor of the electric motor Michael Faraday (9%) make up the top five.

English scientist Tim Berners-Lee falls just outside the top five with 8% of votes for the most recent invention in the top ten, the worldwide web.