Last Friday at Braunschweig’s TU, after surviving a gruelling 12-week winter semester with starting times at a consistent 8 a.m. on a Friday morning, team ‘Regional Studies’ finally voted for their greatest Briton. Stephen Hawking – receiving 17 votes – won it by two!
In total, there were 38 nominations from all walks of British life – from science, arts, sports, food & drink right through to comedy, politics and public life. Despite all team members presenting and arguing passionately for their personal favourites, there were still no hard feelings when the results were announced.
It certainly was a close-fought contest though, and commiserations have to go to Alan Turing and Freddie Mercury in 2nd and 3rd place respectively – better luck next time to the both of you!
An analysis of the full results certainly did throw up a few surprises though. John Cleese received no votes despite showing us all how to defend ourselves against someone armed with a banana. Margaret Thatcher failed to impress with her ‘Thatcherism’, also receiving no votes.
My personal favourite though was Rosalind Franklin, who tied with Isaac Newton with 14 votes each in 5th place. Well done Rosalind!
Photo 51 story
Her image of X-ray diffraction (confirming the helical structure of DNA) was shown to the scientist James Watson without her approval or knowledge. Her scientific contributions to the discovery of the double helix are often overlooked, while Crick & Watson went on to win the Nobel Prize.
Below are the full results including the summary charts for our top five Britons 😊
What do you think about them? Any Questions? Comments?
…. Scroll down and leave a comment or a thumbs-up!
First place (19 votes) – Stephen Hawking
Second place (17 votes) – Alan Turing
Third places (16 Votes) – Freddie Mercury
Fourth place (15 Votes) – Florence Nightingale and Princess Diana
Fifth place (14 votes) – Rosalind Franklin and Isaac Newtown
And here are the other placings!…
13 votes: Charles Darwin
10 votes: Elsie Widdowson
8 votes: Jane Austen and Queen Elizabeth I
6 votes: Paul McCartney
5 votes: Elton John, Evelyn Dove, Robert The Bruce and Tom Penny
4 votes: Eric Clapton, John Oliver, Ricky Gervais and Rowan Atkinson
3 votes: Edward (Eddie) Hall
2 votes: Fred Dibnah, Andrew Carnegie, Gordon Ramsay, Henry VIII, James Clerk Maxwell, Prince Harry,
Sarah Millican, Trevor McDonald,
1 vote: Charlie Chaplin, Jamie Oliver, One Direction, Vivienne Westwood
0 votes: George Best, George Orwell, Margaret Thatcher, Tony Blair, John Cleese
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