Turing and Flowers were expanding upon the work of the Polish engineers who in 1938 had developed code-breaking machines to figure out Enigma rotor settings (which is fairly simple a task once you know that an Enigma machine never encodes a letter as itself). Turing's development of these (the 'bombes') were operational in 1939
ENIAC was not a co-incidenal invention. Work on it started in 1943, by which time Britain had a working Collossus machine, all of which were digital, electronic, programmable computers.
Zuse in Germany had an electromechanical computer in 1941 and Atanasoff in USA had an electronic digital, but non-programmable device in either 1939 or 1940. ENIAC was based upon this device.
But we trump them all if you stretch the point with Babbage who designed (but of course could not produce) a working, mechanical, programmable computer in 1823.
Things we invented that benefitted the world are numous though. Industry, steam engines, trains, iron ships, trade unions, state healthcare, radio, television, the jet engine, sandwiches, wellington boots, toasters, licorice allsorts, thermos flasks, flushing toilets, tin cans, vaccination, the printing press, the electric kettle, the light bulb, radar, bicycles, the decimal point, postage stamps, tarmac, hypodermic syringes, several sports - e.g. football, cricket, rugby, tennis, baseball, and the modern olympics themselves.*
it is estimated that over 50% of all things in modern use were invented by the British.
*Things off that list were pulled off the internet. it may be wrong
Turing and Flowers were expanding upon the work of the Polish engineers who in 1938 had developed code-breaking machines to figure out Enigma rotor settings (which is fairly simple a task once you know that an Enigma machine never encodes a letter as itself). Turing's development of these (the 'bombes') were operational in 1939
ENIAC was not a co-incidenal invention. Work on it started in 1943, by which time Britain had a working Collossus machine, all of which were digital, electronic, programmable computers.
Zuse in Germany had an electromechanical computer in 1941 and Atanasoff in USA had an electronic digital, but non-programmable device in either 1939 or 1940. ENIAC was based upon this device.
But we trump them all if you stretch the point with Babbage who designed (but of course could not produce) a working, mechanical, programmable computer in 1823.
Things we invented that benefitted the world are numous though. Industry, steam engines, trains, iron ships, trade unions, state healthcare, radio, television, the jet engine, sandwiches, wellington boots, toasters, licorice allsorts, thermos flasks, flushing toilets, tin cans, vaccination, the printing press, the electric kettle, the light bulb, radar, bicycles, the decimal point, postage stamps, tarmac, hypodermic syringes, several sports - e.g. football, cricket, rugby, tennis, baseball, and the modern olympics themselves.*
it is estimated that over 50% of all things in modern use were invented by the British.
*Things off that list were pulled off the internet. it may be wrong