Scotland has long punched above its weight when it comes to inventions - from TV and telephones to Grand Theft Auto and deep fried Mars Bars.
It’s then a surprise to find that some things that seem intrinsically Scottish were actually invented elsewhere - haggis was first cooked up by the Romans and Vikings, the bagpipes are thought to have originated in ancient Egypt, and even the modern kilt was designed by 18th-century industrialist English Thomas Rawlinson.
Thankfully, many of the things we associate with Scotland were indeed invented here - although some have a more complicated origin story than we may realise.
We asked the readers of The Scotsman for their favourite Scottish inventions and hundreds had their say.
Here are the 13 most mentioned.
5. Whisky
Both Scotland and Ireland claim to have invented whisky (or whiskey as it's called on the Emerald Isle), but Scotland has the earliest written record of a order of 'aqua vitae', or 'water of life' to be made from malt in 1494. Our readers clearly reckon that's evidence enough and it's certainly one of the things Scotland is most famous for around the world. | Canva/Getty Images
6. Irn Bru
Scotland's 'other' national drink is also beloved of Scotsman readers. Invented in 1901 by A.G. Barr, allegedly to give steelworkers energy, it's made to a unique closely-guarded secret recipe. Thanks to its popularity Scotland is one of the few countries in the world whose best-selling soft drink is not Coca-Cola. It's now available in a range of different flavours, but it's the orginal that remains a true Scottish great. | Contributed
7. The pneumatic tyre
Scottish veterinarian John Boyd Dunlop invented the first inflatable tyre for his son's tricycle in 1888 - creating the Dunlop Rubber Company and forever changing how we would travel. Interestingly another Scottish inventor, Robert William Thomson, had previously patented a design in 1847 but never managed to make a commercially viable model. | Canva/Getty Images
8. Tarmacadam
Those pneumatic tyres would have a hard time lasting long were it not for the smooth road surface created by tarmacadam (or simply tarmac) - named after Scottish inventor John Loudon McAdam. In truth he was only partly responsible for the breakthrough, having pioneered roads consisting of crushed stone, or macadam, in the early 1800s. It was English surveyor Edgar Purnell Hooley who accidentally stumbled upon how a hard a durable surface could be created by adding tar - patenting the process in 1901. Still, without macadam, there could have been no tarmacadam. | Canva/Getty Images