What do penicillin, the telephone and television all have in common? While it sounds like the setup for an odd joke the answer is that they were all invented by Scottish people and it is often said that “Scots invented the modern world”.
Certainly, Scotland has been at the forefront of all sorts of revolutionary change from our architecture to our religion, arts, politics, literature and more. To explore and celebrate this rich heritage, we asked our Scotsman readers who their “most influential Scot of all time” was and in response we received hundreds of fascinating nominations.
Now, in this list condensed to seventeen nominations, let’s explore these Scottish icons and unpack their legacies which earned them the respect of being thought of as the ‘most influential Scots’ of all time.
17. Sir Andrew Barron Murray
Better known as Andy Murray, the Glasgow-born professional tennis player and former world number one is a cultural icon for many Scots. Since going professional in 2005, Murray has won three Grand Slam singles titles (two at Wimbledon and one at the US Open), two Olympic gold medals and reached eleven major finals. He was ranked number one by the Association of Tennis Professionals over 41 weeks and finished as the ‘year-end number one’ in 2016. Photo: Number 10 on Flickr