0:00:02 > 0:00:05I'm Joe Crowley and this is History Hunt,
0:00:05 > 0:00:09where children like you investigate exciting stuff from the past.
0:00:11 > 0:00:12Big stuff...
0:00:12 > 0:00:15- Incredible, isn't it? - Whoa.- It's massive!
0:00:15 > 0:00:17Surprising stuff.
0:00:17 > 0:00:18Clever stuff.
0:00:18 > 0:00:23The clues are everywhere if you know where to look,
0:00:23 > 0:00:26and finding them is fun.
0:00:41 > 0:00:45On this episode of History Hunt, four inquisitive kids
0:00:45 > 0:00:47track down a real life war hero,
0:00:47 > 0:00:51and learn about some big guns to find out why
0:00:51 > 0:00:55a teenager died in a sea battle and became the bravest boy in Britain.
0:00:57 > 0:00:59This is Little Ilford in East London,
0:00:59 > 0:01:02just over the border from Essex.
0:01:02 > 0:01:04We're at the Jack Cornwell Community Centre
0:01:04 > 0:01:08on Jack Cornwell Street, to start today's History Hunt.
0:01:09 > 0:01:13This is Tharshika, Rajeevi, Bradley and Kwasi,
0:01:13 > 0:01:15and today we're going to be looking for clues
0:01:15 > 0:01:17to find out who Jack Cornwell was.
0:01:17 > 0:01:19Right, guys, let's go.
0:01:21 > 0:01:24So, guys, do we think the fact that his name is here
0:01:24 > 0:01:26- that he might have been local? - ALL: Yes.
0:01:26 > 0:01:28The History Hunters think that
0:01:28 > 0:01:31if he lived round here he might be buried round here, too.
0:01:31 > 0:01:35We can go to the cemetery, and on his grave maybe there'll be
0:01:35 > 0:01:37- information about who Jack Cornwell was.- Ah, OK.
0:01:37 > 0:01:41- Like what he did. - When he was born and when he died.
0:01:41 > 0:01:42Come on, then, let's go.
0:01:46 > 0:01:49Jack Cornwell is actually buried in the local cemetery
0:01:49 > 0:01:53in nearby Manor Park, so that's where the hunt started.
0:01:53 > 0:01:56We are on a search for Jack Cornwell.
0:01:59 > 0:02:01This is Jack Cornwell's grave.
0:02:01 > 0:02:05"First-class boy John Travers Cornwell VC
0:02:05 > 0:02:10"dies of wounds received at the Battle of Jutland, 2nd June, 1916."
0:02:12 > 0:02:15- So, did you find the grave? - ALL: Yes.- I've even got proof.
0:02:15 > 0:02:18Good, you've got a photo. Tell me what's on there?
0:02:18 > 0:02:21He was born 8th January, 1900,
0:02:21 > 0:02:24died of wounds received at the Battle of Jutland, 1916.
0:02:24 > 0:02:30- 1916?- That means he died during the First World War.
0:02:30 > 0:02:32And what was that first bit, just before his name?
0:02:32 > 0:02:33First-class boy.
0:02:33 > 0:02:37Anything else? He has "VC" after his name. What's VC?
0:02:37 > 0:02:38Vice captain?
0:02:38 > 0:02:41It's a good suggestion, but as they're not too sure
0:02:41 > 0:02:43they'll need further confirmation.
0:02:43 > 0:02:44So, now we have two tasks ahead of us -
0:02:44 > 0:02:47finding out what a first-class boy is, and what VC is.
0:02:47 > 0:02:51We're going to split into two teams. Who wants to work with who?
0:02:51 > 0:02:53OK, boys and girls, how surprising.
0:02:55 > 0:02:59Bradley and Kwasi look up what a VC is online,
0:02:59 > 0:03:02The girls find out that first-class boy was a naval rank,
0:03:02 > 0:03:05so they're off to the local naval cadet centre to see
0:03:05 > 0:03:09if they can get any clues about what Jack's job would have been like.
0:03:09 > 0:03:11Hello, girls, welcome to TS Chester.
0:03:11 > 0:03:14This is the home of Newham Cornwell VC Sea Cadets.
0:03:14 > 0:03:16First we need to get you in uniform, so go and get changed.
0:03:16 > 0:03:18Shoulder arms!
0:03:19 > 0:03:23Guard, into line, left turn!
0:03:23 > 0:03:26This is the kind of training Jackie would have done at Keyham.
0:03:26 > 0:03:28Although the weapons are different,
0:03:28 > 0:03:30the drill manoeuvres are virtually identical.
0:03:30 > 0:03:33- Was it hard for Jack Cornwell? - Yes, it was very hard,
0:03:33 > 0:03:35he had to be up at 5:45 every morning.
0:03:35 > 0:03:37He crammed a lot of training into a very short time.
0:03:37 > 0:03:39I think it's time you two had a go.
0:03:39 > 0:03:41Remember, don't point it at anyone.
0:03:41 > 0:03:43Just hold that for me.
0:03:43 > 0:03:45It's quite heavy, so be ready for it.
0:03:45 > 0:03:48And if you follow me I'll take you to the drill squad.
0:03:48 > 0:03:51Guard halt!
0:03:51 > 0:03:53Not bad for your first go, well done.
0:03:54 > 0:03:58Kwasi and Bradley's internet research reveals that
0:03:58 > 0:04:00VC stands for Victoria Cross -
0:04:00 > 0:04:05the country's highest award for bravery in the face of enemy attack.
0:04:05 > 0:04:09They've also uncovered someone in the UK who's won a VC like Jack.
0:04:09 > 0:04:10Living VC holders.
0:04:10 > 0:04:13Johnson Gideon Beharry.
0:04:13 > 0:04:15Bradley and Kwasi want to speak to someone who knows
0:04:15 > 0:04:19just what it takes to win a VC, and they're super lucky,
0:04:19 > 0:04:23as Johnson Beharry, the only living man to win a VC in 20 years,
0:04:23 > 0:04:25has agreed to tell them his story.
0:04:25 > 0:04:29This is the boys' chance to speak to a real, modern day war hero.
0:04:29 > 0:04:31Do a lot of people have VCs?
0:04:31 > 0:04:35In the UK, we have five Victoria Crosses alive with the UK medal.
0:04:35 > 0:04:37How do you get one?
0:04:37 > 0:04:41You have to do something brave in the face of enemy fire,
0:04:41 > 0:04:44and you have to be in 97% of losing your life.
0:04:44 > 0:04:46How did you get it?
0:04:46 > 0:04:49I received the Victoria Cross for saving 42 members
0:04:49 > 0:04:51of my comrades in Iraq.
0:04:51 > 0:04:54Private Beharry explains he'd been driving a tank
0:04:54 > 0:04:57in the Iraq War when he was ambushed by enemy fighters
0:04:57 > 0:05:00who attacked his vehicle with rockets and set it on fire.
0:05:00 > 0:05:03His only exit was blocked by a mine in the road.
0:05:03 > 0:05:05Johnson knew that he would almost certainly die
0:05:05 > 0:05:07if he drove over the mine,
0:05:07 > 0:05:10but that his fellow soldiers would probably die if he stayed still.
0:05:10 > 0:05:14Someone had to set the mine off to clear the route.
0:05:14 > 0:05:18And that's what I did, I drove over the mine knowing I was going to die.
0:05:18 > 0:05:22And, still under enemy fire, he helped his comrades to safety.
0:05:22 > 0:05:27A year later, Johnson Beharry became the first living man for 20 years
0:05:27 > 0:05:30to be awarded the VC for his bravery.
0:05:30 > 0:05:33But receiving the award is a huge honour for me.
0:05:33 > 0:05:37Thank you very much we enjoyed chatting with you.
0:05:37 > 0:05:39Thank you, you are welcome.
0:05:40 > 0:05:42Right, hello, guys.
0:05:42 > 0:05:45'Bradley and Kwasi meet the girls outside the Sea Cadet Centre,
0:05:45 > 0:05:48'and the four History Hunters tell me what they've learned.'
0:05:48 > 0:05:53- We learned what sort of clothes he wore.- Right, how was that?
0:05:53 > 0:05:59- It was itchy.- Itchy?- And very heavy. And the rifle he used was...
0:05:59 > 0:06:01Ten times every other than what we use.
0:06:01 > 0:06:04- But a good experience?- Yeah.
0:06:04 > 0:06:07OK, and you feel you know what he'd have gone through?
0:06:07 > 0:06:10- You know a bit more about him now, do you?- Yeah.
0:06:10 > 0:06:11How do you get a VC?
0:06:11 > 0:06:15Well, you just have to be willing to give 90% of your life away.
0:06:15 > 0:06:18- Right, you've got to take a huge risk?- Yeah.
0:06:18 > 0:06:22I was doing a bit of research and I'll show you what I've got here.
0:06:22 > 0:06:25'I'd found Jack's naval service record at the National Archives
0:06:25 > 0:06:29'which mentioned the ship he'd served on - HMS Chester.
0:06:29 > 0:06:31'It also repeated the fact that Jack had won the VC
0:06:31 > 0:06:34'for conspicuous bravery at the Battle of Jutland.
0:06:34 > 0:06:37'So, we need to find out more.'
0:06:37 > 0:06:40- So, where do we go, what do we do? - The library?- Very good.
0:06:40 > 0:06:42Anyone we can speak to?
0:06:42 > 0:06:45The people who fought in the Battle of Jutland,
0:06:45 > 0:06:48maybe their relatives are still alive.
0:06:48 > 0:06:51- Yeah, everyone happy with that? - Yeah.
0:06:54 > 0:06:57Right, here we are at the Imperial War Museum.
0:06:57 > 0:06:59I'm going to introduce you two to a relative of someone
0:06:59 > 0:07:01that served in the battle, OK?
0:07:01 > 0:07:04You guys, I'm going to test your research skills.
0:07:04 > 0:07:08- What could we use to find out a bit more?- Newspapers?- Newspapers, yeah.
0:07:08 > 0:07:10- Everyone ready?- ALL: Yeah.
0:07:11 > 0:07:13Girls, this is Philip Douglas.
0:07:13 > 0:07:16Now, his dad served in the Battle of Jutland.
0:07:16 > 0:07:18The Battle of Jutland was a huge sea battle
0:07:18 > 0:07:22that Jack fought in during the First World War.
0:07:22 > 0:07:24It took place on 31st May, 1916.
0:07:24 > 0:07:27It's really valuable to speak to someone
0:07:27 > 0:07:30so directly connected to the event itself.
0:07:30 > 0:07:31What job did your dad have?
0:07:31 > 0:07:34My father was the Gunnery Commander on HMS Warspite.
0:07:34 > 0:07:37The guns you probably saw as you came into the museum
0:07:37 > 0:07:38were 15 inch guns.
0:07:38 > 0:07:42They're 50 foot long, they weigh 100 tonnes each
0:07:42 > 0:07:45and could be fired over 16 miles.
0:07:45 > 0:07:46Was it hard for him in the battle?
0:07:46 > 0:07:48The battle was very hard indeed.
0:07:48 > 0:07:51It was a very short-lived battle,
0:07:51 > 0:07:53but the biggest battle that has ever taken place at sea.
0:07:53 > 0:07:57That's Jock Cornwell's ship, HMS Chester, and that was
0:07:57 > 0:08:02the gun that he was operating on when he got hit in the chest.
0:08:02 > 0:08:05The Chester got caught out between the two fleets,
0:08:05 > 0:08:07and the Germans managed to hit her
0:08:07 > 0:08:10and did quite a lot of damage but didn't sink her.
0:08:10 > 0:08:12That hole would have been about seven feet across.
0:08:12 > 0:08:14Who won the battle?
0:08:14 > 0:08:18They both claimed they'd won, but nobody was the obvious winner.
0:08:18 > 0:08:21That's interesting, girls, it just shows we can't always trust
0:08:21 > 0:08:24everything we read, even when it's a newspaper in 1916.
0:08:24 > 0:08:27Boy hero of the naval battle.
0:08:27 > 0:08:31John Travers Cornwell of HMS Chester was mortally wounded
0:08:31 > 0:08:33early in the action.
0:08:33 > 0:08:38He nevertheless remained standing alone at the most exposed post
0:08:38 > 0:08:41with the gun crew dead and wounded all around him.
0:08:41 > 0:08:43What did he do that was so brave?
0:08:43 > 0:08:46Well, even though he was wounded he decided to carry on
0:08:46 > 0:08:49and followed the orders of the captain.
0:08:49 > 0:08:54Jack was only a few years older than Bradley and Kwasi when he died,
0:08:54 > 0:08:57and the two History Hunters try to put themselves in his shoes.
0:08:57 > 0:09:00I would have run away or gone to a safer place on the boat.
0:09:00 > 0:09:02I would feel a little bit scared,
0:09:02 > 0:09:07but I would have to make a decision if I either wanted to run away
0:09:07 > 0:09:12or I would fight for my crew members and for the whole of England.
0:09:14 > 0:09:17So, guys, it's been a very productive day.
0:09:17 > 0:09:19What have we learned about our Jack?
0:09:19 > 0:09:21'The team have uncovered loads of information
0:09:21 > 0:09:23'about Jutland Jack Cornwell,
0:09:23 > 0:09:27'but with the story nearly complete, one thing's caught my eye -
0:09:27 > 0:09:30'I wonder if the History Hunters have noticed it, too.'
0:09:30 > 0:09:33We found a newspaper having Jack's face on it.
0:09:33 > 0:09:37You guys took a photo, right? Let's see the photo.
0:09:37 > 0:09:40This is the front page of a newspaper.
0:09:40 > 0:09:41Look at his hat.
0:09:41 > 0:09:44HMS Lancaster.
0:09:44 > 0:09:48- What boat was he on?- HMS Chester.
0:09:48 > 0:09:50Ah. So what's happened there?
0:09:50 > 0:09:54Maybe they put somebody else's picture in.
0:09:54 > 0:09:56Right, they did.
0:09:56 > 0:09:59'Jack's bravery was an inspiring story to tell people,
0:09:59 > 0:10:01'but because he was dead there was no picture of him
0:10:01 > 0:10:03'to show people what he looked like.'
0:10:03 > 0:10:05That's actually his brother.
0:10:05 > 0:10:08This is wartime, you want to keep people's spirits up,
0:10:08 > 0:10:11they want people to feel good about the war and keep going.
0:10:11 > 0:10:14- We've learnt a lot today, haven't we?- ALL: Yes.
0:10:14 > 0:10:18So, it seems this community centre was named after a 16-year-old lad
0:10:18 > 0:10:21who was not just a hero to the people of Little Ilford
0:10:21 > 0:10:24but also to young people all around the country.
0:10:24 > 0:10:28And that's the story our History Hunters team has uncovered.
0:10:31 > 0:10:34John Travers Cornwell - or Jack, as he was widely known -
0:10:34 > 0:10:38was born on 8th January, 1900, in the district of West Ham,
0:10:38 > 0:10:39which was then in Essex.
0:10:40 > 0:10:44A year into the First World War, in July, 1915,
0:10:44 > 0:10:47the 15-year-old Jack joined the Royal Navy.
0:10:47 > 0:10:49He was soon sent to war aboard HMS Chester.
0:10:49 > 0:10:53Jack's job was to operate one of the ships' huge guns
0:10:53 > 0:10:56in the war's deadliest sea battle -
0:10:56 > 0:10:59the Battle of Jutland on May 31st, 1916.
0:11:01 > 0:11:04HMS Chester was hit several times by enemy shells,
0:11:04 > 0:11:07and Jack Cornwell was severely injured in the chest.
0:11:07 > 0:11:10With dead and wounded all around him,
0:11:10 > 0:11:14he continued to stand by his weapon awaiting orders until help arrived.
0:11:14 > 0:11:17He was taken to Grimsby hospital, but died two days later
0:11:17 > 0:11:19on 2nd June, 1916.
0:11:19 > 0:11:22He was just 16 years and 5 months old.
0:11:22 > 0:11:25Jack was awarded a full military funeral,
0:11:25 > 0:11:28and in September that same year he was awarded the Victoria Cross
0:11:28 > 0:11:31after his death, for a conspicuous act of bravery.
0:11:31 > 0:11:34Photographs, paintings and cigarette cards
0:11:34 > 0:11:38were all issued in his memory to increase morale but,
0:11:38 > 0:11:40as there was no photograph of Jack,
0:11:40 > 0:11:43his brothers were used as models instead.
0:11:48 > 0:11:51I'm Joe Crowley and this is History Hunt,
0:11:51 > 0:11:56where children like you investigate exciting stuff from the past.
0:11:57 > 0:11:59'Big stuff.'
0:11:59 > 0:12:01- Incredible, isn't it? - Whoah!- It's massive!
0:12:01 > 0:12:03'Surprising stuff.'
0:12:04 > 0:12:06'Clever stuff.
0:12:06 > 0:12:09'The clues are everywhere if you know where to look,
0:12:09 > 0:12:12'and finding them is fun.'
0:12:29 > 0:12:31Today the History Hunt teams are in the lab,
0:12:31 > 0:12:33investigating a scientific scandal.
0:12:33 > 0:12:37Why was a woman who helped make a massive discovery ignored
0:12:37 > 0:12:42when the biggest prize in science was won by her male rivals?
0:12:44 > 0:12:48I'm in Cambridge, home to one of the world's top universities.
0:12:48 > 0:12:52And this is Rosalind Franklin House, a doctor's surgery close to the city
0:12:52 > 0:12:55and the starting point for today's history hunt.
0:12:58 > 0:13:00This is Neil, Elizabeth, Holly and Henry.
0:13:00 > 0:13:02They're today's History Hunters.
0:13:02 > 0:13:05Together we're going to look for clues to find out
0:13:05 > 0:13:08who Rosalind Franklin was and what she did.
0:13:10 > 0:13:11Look what I found.
0:13:11 > 0:13:13This is a picture by Quentin Blake
0:13:13 > 0:13:16at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge, OK?
0:13:16 > 0:13:19It says "DNA, Franklin, Crick and Watson."
0:13:19 > 0:13:22'Crick and Watson are dead famous
0:13:22 > 0:13:24'because they cracked the secret of DNA,
0:13:24 > 0:13:28'but the name Franklin is much less well known.
0:13:28 > 0:13:31'The picture does suggest she had something to do with it.
0:13:31 > 0:13:34'We need to find out more about Crick and Watson.'
0:13:34 > 0:13:37If we want to find out more, where would we look?
0:13:37 > 0:13:39Search on the internet.
0:13:39 > 0:13:43- What other form of news do we get? - The television.- Television, right.
0:13:43 > 0:13:461953, there wasn't a lot of television around at that point.
0:13:46 > 0:13:48They went and saw newsreels in cinemas.
0:13:48 > 0:13:52These are often online, so you're going to go and look online.
0:13:52 > 0:13:55I want you to keep an eye out for Crick and Watson.
0:13:55 > 0:13:58You head off to the Chemistry Department
0:13:58 > 0:14:01- and find out a bit more about the background of...- DNA.- DNA.
0:14:01 > 0:14:02Come on then, let's go.
0:14:04 > 0:14:07As our Crick and Watson team settle down to some
0:14:07 > 0:14:10internet archive research, the DNA team head off
0:14:10 > 0:14:14to Cambridge University's Chemistry Department.
0:14:15 > 0:14:18There, with help from scientist Adrian Nixon,
0:14:18 > 0:14:21they discover that DNA is in every living thing on earth.
0:14:21 > 0:14:24It's like a big instruction manual.
0:14:24 > 0:14:26It says are you going to have blue eyes or blonde hair?
0:14:28 > 0:14:30For something so important,
0:14:30 > 0:14:33it's surprisingly easy to extract DNA.
0:14:33 > 0:14:37Adrian's using a strawberry and a type of alcohol
0:14:37 > 0:14:39which scientists call ethanol.
0:14:39 > 0:14:43And the DNA is soluble in water - you know what soluble means?
0:14:43 > 0:14:45Yeah, it's a solid which can dissolve.
0:14:45 > 0:14:48Absolutely, but it can't dissolve in ethanol.
0:14:48 > 0:14:50So any DNA that floats into that ethanol,
0:14:50 > 0:14:54suddenly it's not soluble, so it starts clumping together,
0:14:54 > 0:14:58and what you can see here is the DNA and, if we're really lucky,
0:14:58 > 0:15:02we can actually get it to float free of the strawberry.
0:15:02 > 0:15:05You can see it starting to come free.
0:15:05 > 0:15:08So, that is DNA - that's the instruction manual for a strawberry.
0:15:08 > 0:15:12So, what does Rosalind Franklin and Crick and Watson
0:15:12 > 0:15:13have to do with DNA?
0:15:13 > 0:15:18They were the people who came up with the structure of DNA,
0:15:18 > 0:15:20this wonderful, beautiful double helix.
0:15:20 > 0:15:23- I recognise it. - Where have you seen that so far?
0:15:23 > 0:15:26We saw it in the picture of Rosalind Franklin.
0:15:26 > 0:15:28The Quentin Blake picture.
0:15:28 > 0:15:30Finding the structure of DNA
0:15:30 > 0:15:33was one of the biggest scientific discoveries in history.
0:15:33 > 0:15:37It means that scientists can do things like make new medicines
0:15:37 > 0:15:40and also grow new plants to help feed people living in
0:15:40 > 0:15:43very hot and dry countries and prevent them from going hungry.
0:15:45 > 0:15:47Meanwhile, our Crick and Watson team
0:15:47 > 0:15:49are targeting cinema newsreel archives...
0:15:49 > 0:15:52Julie says try Pathe and Movietone.
0:15:52 > 0:15:55..and they find something on the Movietone site.
0:15:55 > 0:15:58Nobel prize-winners 1962.
0:15:58 > 0:16:00Dr John Kendrew, Dr Francis Crick.
0:16:00 > 0:16:02There you go.
0:16:02 > 0:16:06Like all good historians, they take notes on what they've found.
0:16:06 > 0:16:10- I think we should Skype Joe and tell him what we've found.- OK.
0:16:10 > 0:16:11Hi, guys. So, how did you get on?
0:16:11 > 0:16:16- We find out that Crick and Watson won prizes.- Nobel Prize.
0:16:16 > 0:16:17Nobel Prize?
0:16:17 > 0:16:21That's huge, that's the biggest prize a scientist can win.
0:16:21 > 0:16:24You said Crick and Watson - any mention of Rosalind Franklin?
0:16:24 > 0:16:26- No, there's wasn't.- No.
0:16:28 > 0:16:30'So far, our History Hunters have done well.
0:16:30 > 0:16:33'They've found out that discovering the structure of DNA
0:16:33 > 0:16:35'was a huge breakthrough.'
0:16:35 > 0:16:39It's a really big deal because it helps people create medicine.
0:16:41 > 0:16:44'And Crick and Watson were in the news.
0:16:44 > 0:16:47'They won the Nobel Prize for something to do with DNA.
0:16:47 > 0:16:50'But Rosalind is on Quentin Blake's picture, too,
0:16:50 > 0:16:53'and no mention of her so far.
0:16:53 > 0:16:55'Time to dig deeper in the archives -
0:16:55 > 0:16:58'that's a place where the historical records are kept.'
0:16:58 > 0:17:01Right, guys, Rosalind Franklin hasn't come up much,
0:17:01 > 0:17:04so I think we've got a couple of tasks ahead.
0:17:04 > 0:17:07You guys I want you to look and see what you can find out
0:17:07 > 0:17:09about Rosalind Franklin in the archives, yeah?
0:17:09 > 0:17:10And you guys,
0:17:10 > 0:17:14I've arranged for Rosalind Franklin's niece to come and see us.
0:17:14 > 0:17:16Let's get started.
0:17:17 > 0:17:20You can find out loads from talking to people
0:17:20 > 0:17:22who actually knew someone from history.
0:17:22 > 0:17:25And sometimes they might have original notes
0:17:25 > 0:17:29or drawings or photos, and these can be really important.
0:17:29 > 0:17:32Rosalind's niece is called Shirley.
0:17:32 > 0:17:36- What was her job? - She was a scientist.
0:17:36 > 0:17:39She was invited to do some work at King's College,
0:17:39 > 0:17:42which was to do with finding out about DNA.
0:17:42 > 0:17:47What connection did she have with Crick and Watson?
0:17:47 > 0:17:50They were both doing work separately on DNA.
0:17:50 > 0:17:54Shirley explained Crick and Watson saw themselves as Rosalind's rivals
0:17:54 > 0:17:57in a race to identify how DNA was made up.
0:17:57 > 0:18:01Part of Rosalind's job was taking a special type of photograph
0:18:01 > 0:18:04which shows what tiny things like DNA actually look like.
0:18:06 > 0:18:08In 1952, Rosalind took a photograph
0:18:08 > 0:18:11that was the final piece in the jigsaw,
0:18:11 > 0:18:14but she didn't realise it at the time.
0:18:14 > 0:18:16Tell me more about the photograph.
0:18:16 > 0:18:19This photograph showed what the structure of the DNA was,
0:18:19 > 0:18:20in a sense.
0:18:20 > 0:18:24But what happened was somebody showed it to Crick and Watson,
0:18:24 > 0:18:26and that's what they used to do their discovering.
0:18:26 > 0:18:29But she didn't know they'd got hold of it.
0:18:29 > 0:18:31It's called Photograph 51.
0:18:32 > 0:18:37The team tell me about Photograph 51 and how and why Rosalind was beaten
0:18:37 > 0:18:40in the race to discover what DNA looked like.
0:18:40 > 0:18:43but Shirley is very close to Rosalind.
0:18:43 > 0:18:46It would be really good to get someone else
0:18:46 > 0:18:48to confirm what she believes.
0:18:48 > 0:18:50It's what good historians do all the time.
0:18:50 > 0:18:55And that's Neil and Elizabeth's job in the Churchill College archives,
0:18:55 > 0:18:59with the help of Cath Senker, a Rosalind Franklin expert.
0:18:59 > 0:19:04She knows all about Photograph 51, which is actually an X-ray.
0:19:04 > 0:19:06What sort of photo does an X-ray take?
0:19:06 > 0:19:09It shows a photo of inside you, your bones.
0:19:09 > 0:19:11When Watson saw Photograph 51,
0:19:11 > 0:19:14his jaw dropped, it was that obvious to him
0:19:14 > 0:19:16that it meant DNA was a helix.
0:19:16 > 0:19:20Cath shows the History Hunters Rosalind's original notebooks
0:19:20 > 0:19:24where she wrote about her research. It seems Shirley's right -
0:19:24 > 0:19:26Photograph 51 was incredibly important,
0:19:26 > 0:19:28and when Crick and Watson saw it
0:19:28 > 0:19:32they knew they'd found the secret of DNA.
0:19:32 > 0:19:35It was hailed as one of the biggest scientific discoveries in history.
0:19:35 > 0:19:40It won them the Nobel Prize, and they became world famous.
0:19:40 > 0:19:43But they failed to say how much they'd relied
0:19:43 > 0:19:44on Rosalind Franklin's work.
0:19:44 > 0:19:49They didn't say, "We used the data from Rosalind Franklin
0:19:49 > 0:19:51"and we've put it in our paper."
0:19:51 > 0:19:54Crick and Watson did mention Rosalind,
0:19:54 > 0:19:57but didn't say how important the photograph had been.
0:19:57 > 0:19:59It seems Shirley was right -
0:19:59 > 0:20:03Rosalind's meticulous work didn't get the credit it deserved.
0:20:03 > 0:20:04But why would that be?
0:20:04 > 0:20:09Some people believe it was the simple fact that she was a woman.
0:20:09 > 0:20:13I spoke to a science historian earlier on.
0:20:13 > 0:20:16This lady is Patricia, and let's see what she had to say.
0:20:16 > 0:20:18The way we tell stories about science,
0:20:18 > 0:20:22we always focus on the great big heroes, we choose one person
0:20:22 > 0:20:23or two people and focus on them,
0:20:23 > 0:20:27and Rosalind Franklin happens not to be one of those two.
0:20:27 > 0:20:3160 years ago, being a woman in science was really very unusual,
0:20:31 > 0:20:33so there was a lot of discrimination against women,
0:20:33 > 0:20:36women couldn't even go and have tea and coffee
0:20:36 > 0:20:38in the same room as the men, so it was a really hard
0:20:38 > 0:20:42for a women to achieve as highly as Rosalind Franklin did.
0:20:42 > 0:20:44Right, so there we go.
0:20:44 > 0:20:47When we're looking at history, we have to put ourselves
0:20:47 > 0:20:49in the situation as it was then,
0:20:49 > 0:20:53and in the 1950s men and women weren't treated equally,
0:20:53 > 0:20:55and that's also part of the reason, perhaps,
0:20:55 > 0:20:57why Rosalind Franklin wasn't celebrated
0:20:57 > 0:20:59for her role in discovering DNA.
0:20:59 > 0:21:02Thanks to all the work you've done today,
0:21:02 > 0:21:04- you know the real story, don't you? - ALL: Yeah.
0:21:04 > 0:21:06By speaking to family members, experts,
0:21:06 > 0:21:08and going through the archives,
0:21:08 > 0:21:11we've found out a lot about Rosalind Franklin,
0:21:11 > 0:21:14so the doctor's surgery where we started is named after
0:21:14 > 0:21:16a very intelligent scientist who was involved
0:21:16 > 0:21:19in one of the biggest discoveries in the 20th century.
0:21:19 > 0:21:23And that's the story our History Hunters have uncovered.
0:21:26 > 0:21:28Rosalind Franklin was brought up in London
0:21:28 > 0:21:31and studied at Cambridge University in the 1940s.
0:21:31 > 0:21:34It was a very different world from now.
0:21:34 > 0:21:36Very, very few women did science,
0:21:36 > 0:21:38and even when they went to university,
0:21:38 > 0:21:41the men just assumed women shouldn't be doing science.
0:21:41 > 0:21:45In 1950, she was offered a job at Kings College -
0:21:45 > 0:21:49which is part of London University - to work on DNA.
0:21:49 > 0:21:51Every living cell has DNA in it.
0:21:51 > 0:21:54It's vitally important in making us how we are.
0:21:54 > 0:21:58It's like an instruction book for the human body.
0:21:58 > 0:22:00Rosalind was an expert in using X-rays
0:22:00 > 0:22:03to look at how very small things are made up.
0:22:04 > 0:22:07In 1952, she produced Photograph 51,
0:22:07 > 0:22:11which was a real clue to finding the shape of DNA,
0:22:11 > 0:22:13that it was a something called a double helix,
0:22:13 > 0:22:15like two springs coiled together.
0:22:15 > 0:22:20Francis Crick and James Watson - scientists at Cambridge University -
0:22:20 > 0:22:24were also very close to discovering the structure of DNA,
0:22:24 > 0:22:28and then someone showed Jim Watson Rosalind's Photograph 51.
0:22:28 > 0:22:31He was shown that photograph without Rosalind's knowledge,
0:22:31 > 0:22:33and the minute he saw that photograph
0:22:33 > 0:22:35everything fell into place in his mind.
0:22:35 > 0:22:39It was a Rosalind Franklin who took the crucial photograph
0:22:39 > 0:22:42that enabled him to work out how DNA operates.
0:22:42 > 0:22:46Crick and Watson published their discovery in the magazine Nature
0:22:46 > 0:22:49without saying they'd used Rosalind's picture.
0:22:49 > 0:22:53It was a huge breakthrough, and they won the Nobel Prize for it.
0:22:53 > 0:22:57But Rosalind never knew how important her work had been to them.
0:22:57 > 0:23:03She died in 1958, before Crick and Watson won the big prize.
0:23:03 > 0:23:06A lot of women feel very angry about the way
0:23:06 > 0:23:08Rosalind Franklin's been treated.
0:23:08 > 0:23:11If Crick and Watson hadn't already worked out the structure,
0:23:11 > 0:23:15she might have worked it out herself, but what is certain is that
0:23:15 > 0:23:18Rosalind Franklin played a far more important role
0:23:18 > 0:23:21than Jim Watson was ever willing to acknowledge.
0:23:29 > 0:23:31I'm Joe Crowley, and this is History Hunt,
0:23:31 > 0:23:35where children like you investigate exciting stuff from the past.
0:23:39 > 0:23:40'Big stuff.'
0:23:40 > 0:23:43- Incredible, isn't it? - Whoa.- It's massive!
0:23:43 > 0:23:45'Surprising stuff.
0:23:45 > 0:23:46'Clever stuff.
0:23:46 > 0:23:51'The clues are everywhere, if you know where to look.
0:23:51 > 0:23:52'And finding them is fun.'
0:24:10 > 0:24:13Today's History Hunters are on the trail of a man who was
0:24:13 > 0:24:16obsessed with the tiniest things in the universe.
0:24:16 > 0:24:19Atoms - they can be used to make terrible bombs,
0:24:19 > 0:24:22but their peaceful use gives us much of the energy
0:24:22 > 0:24:23we need for our homes.
0:24:27 > 0:24:29This is Todmorden on the Pennine border
0:24:29 > 0:24:31between West Yorkshire and Lancashire.
0:24:31 > 0:24:35It made its fortune in the 19th century as an industrial town,
0:24:35 > 0:24:36milling wool and cotton.
0:24:36 > 0:24:39And it's by one of those old mills you'll find a plaque
0:24:39 > 0:24:41to Sir John Cockcroft.
0:24:42 > 0:24:45And this is James, Hannah, Callum and Maisie.
0:24:45 > 0:24:49They're today's History Hunters, and they're going to find out about it.
0:24:49 > 0:24:50Come on, guys, let's go.
0:24:53 > 0:24:55OK, guys, look what's behind us - a blue plaque.
0:24:55 > 0:24:57Can anyone read the name on it?
0:24:57 > 0:25:01"Sir John Cockcroft lived here from 1899 to 1925."
0:25:01 > 0:25:04Apparently he was a pioneer.
0:25:04 > 0:25:06Pioneer. What does that mean?
0:25:06 > 0:25:09- The one that does it first. - Yeah, very good.
0:25:09 > 0:25:12'He split the atom, whatever that means,
0:25:12 > 0:25:14'and he won something called a Nobel Prize.'
0:25:14 > 0:25:17Splitting the atom - do you know what that is?
0:25:17 > 0:25:21'The History Hunters decide they need someone to explain
0:25:21 > 0:25:23'what splitting an atom involves.
0:25:23 > 0:25:26'They look online where might be a good place to find
0:25:26 > 0:25:28'a scientist who has the answer.'
0:25:28 > 0:25:30- What have we got? - Cockcroft Institute.
0:25:30 > 0:25:32That sounds like a winner.
0:25:32 > 0:25:36You guys, I think you should look into this Nobel Prize thing.
0:25:36 > 0:25:39- Where could you find out more information?- The internet.
0:25:39 > 0:25:43- Anywhere else?- Museums? - Museums, yeah, very good.
0:25:45 > 0:25:48While Callum and Maisie follow up on the Cockcroft Institute lead,
0:25:48 > 0:25:52James and Hannah are off to learn more about Nobel Prizes
0:25:52 > 0:25:54at the Manchester Museum of Science and Industry.
0:25:54 > 0:25:56Albert...Alfred Nobel.
0:25:56 > 0:26:00"Since 1901, the Nobel Prize has been honouring men and women
0:26:00 > 0:26:02"for outstanding achievements in physics, chemistry,
0:26:02 > 0:26:05"medicine, literature and for work in peace.
0:26:05 > 0:26:07"Each prize consists of medals,
0:26:07 > 0:26:10"a personal diploma and a cash award."
0:26:10 > 0:26:11Awesome. I want one of them.
0:26:11 > 0:26:15"The Nobel Prize in physics 1951 was awarded jointly to
0:26:15 > 0:26:20"Sir John Douglas Cockcroft and Ernest Thomas Sinton Walton.
0:26:20 > 0:26:23"He married Eunice Elizabeth Crabtree in 1925
0:26:23 > 0:26:26"and has four daughters and a son."
0:26:29 > 0:26:31- Hi, guys, how are you getting on? - Good.- OK.
0:26:31 > 0:26:34I have found a clip in the BBC archives that
0:26:34 > 0:26:37I think will be really useful for you.
0:26:37 > 0:26:41- I'm going to send it across now and I want you to have a look at it.- OK.
0:26:42 > 0:26:45'In the concert hall at Stockholm, there took place last week
0:26:45 > 0:26:47'the presentation of Nobel Prizes.
0:26:47 > 0:26:50'And from the hands of King Gustaf, said John Cockcroft
0:26:50 > 0:26:52'and Professor Walton received their awards.'
0:26:54 > 0:26:59The atom team are going to meet a scientist at a rugby ground.
0:26:59 > 0:27:01Seems a bit weird.
0:27:01 > 0:27:04Atoms are what everything is made of, and atoms are incredibly small.
0:27:04 > 0:27:06In one of those salt grains...
0:27:06 > 0:27:10Dr Rob Appleby from the Cockcroft Institute tells the team
0:27:10 > 0:27:14that one grain of salt contains a billion billion atoms.
0:27:14 > 0:27:18For a long time, people thought that atoms were the smallest thing.
0:27:18 > 0:27:21Actually, atoms are made of smaller building blocks.
0:27:21 > 0:27:25Dr Appleby explained that at the centre of every atom
0:27:25 > 0:27:30is something called a nucleus, and that's even tinier.
0:27:30 > 0:27:34So if this whole stadium was one tiny atom,
0:27:34 > 0:27:38the nucleus would be smaller than a table tennis ball.
0:27:38 > 0:27:41The rest of the atom would be empty space,
0:27:41 > 0:27:44and in fact, where the stands are now are particles called electrons
0:27:44 > 0:27:49that are whizzing around and around the nucleus at a very high speed.
0:27:49 > 0:27:52And even the nucleus can be broken down into smaller bits.
0:27:52 > 0:27:55The nucleus is made up of smaller particles
0:27:55 > 0:27:57called protons and neutrons.
0:27:57 > 0:28:01So John Cockcroft figured out how to take the nucleus of an atom
0:28:01 > 0:28:02and split it up.
0:28:02 > 0:28:05- Now, how do you do that? - Drill a hole down the middle?
0:28:05 > 0:28:07That's one way of doing it.
0:28:07 > 0:28:09Sir John Cockcroft used a particle accelerator,
0:28:09 > 0:28:13which takes a little proton and accelerates it to very high speeds,
0:28:13 > 0:28:17so if you fire protons at a nucleus, the nucleus splits up.
0:28:17 > 0:28:19Why would he want to split the atom?
0:28:19 > 0:28:22It turns out that energy comes out.
0:28:22 > 0:28:24That energy is called nuclear power.
0:28:26 > 0:28:30- How did we get on? Have we all been learning lots of things?- Yes.
0:28:30 > 0:28:34'Time to all meet at the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester
0:28:34 > 0:28:37'to discuss what we've learned and what to do next.'
0:28:37 > 0:28:40I think you guys need to learn about nuclear power.
0:28:40 > 0:28:43- Where could you learn about nuclear power?- Newspapers.- Newspapers.
0:28:43 > 0:28:46- Very good. Anything else. - On the news.- On the news.
0:28:46 > 0:28:47Really good suggestions.
0:28:47 > 0:28:50So, I want you to look up a company called British Pathe.
0:28:50 > 0:28:54They've got loads of old news reports. See what you can find out.
0:28:56 > 0:29:00While Callum and Maisie go online to use British Pathe's search engine,
0:29:00 > 0:29:02James and Hannah want to know more
0:29:02 > 0:29:04about the machine called a particle accelerator
0:29:04 > 0:29:07which is used to smash up atoms.
0:29:08 > 0:29:11They've got an invite to the ALICE particle accelerator
0:29:11 > 0:29:13at Daresbury Laboratory.
0:29:13 > 0:29:18So inside this vessel is a Cockcroft-Walton power supply.
0:29:18 > 0:29:21This is a key contribution from John Cockcroft
0:29:21 > 0:29:24to the science of particle accelerators.
0:29:24 > 0:29:26Dr Lee Jones is a particle scientist
0:29:26 > 0:29:29and he explains that to smash an atom
0:29:29 > 0:29:32you need to make the particles go very, very fast.
0:29:33 > 0:29:36And to do that, you need massive amounts of electricity.
0:29:38 > 0:29:42Sir John Cockcroft's machine, using the Cockcroft-Walton voltage ladder,
0:29:42 > 0:29:45made this possible for the very first time.
0:29:45 > 0:29:48The Cockcroft-Walton ladder multiplies voltage.
0:29:48 > 0:29:50So we have 5,000 volts on the top
0:29:50 > 0:29:52and 500,000 volts on the bottom.
0:29:52 > 0:29:54That gives as the high voltage that we need
0:29:54 > 0:29:56to accelerate our charged particles.
0:29:56 > 0:29:59Dr Jones explains that the high voltages mean
0:29:59 > 0:30:03the charged particles soon end up going at super-fast speeds.
0:30:03 > 0:30:06How long does it take for an electron
0:30:06 > 0:30:08to get round the accelerator?
0:30:08 > 0:30:10An accelerator is about 70 metres long.
0:30:10 > 0:30:14It would take some slightly over 210 nanoseconds.
0:30:14 > 0:30:18A nanosecond is a thousandth of a millionth of a second.
0:30:18 > 0:30:21So could you use this to split the atom?
0:30:21 > 0:30:24You would use exactly the same technology to split your atom.
0:30:24 > 0:30:28The machine Sir John invented allowed scientists to split the atom
0:30:28 > 0:30:31whenever they wanted, and every time they did,
0:30:31 > 0:30:34huge amounts of energy were released.
0:30:34 > 0:30:35Callum and Maisie's job
0:30:35 > 0:30:38is to look for how Sir John's discovery was used.
0:30:38 > 0:30:41They found old news reports that showed that scientists
0:30:41 > 0:30:42built on Cockcroft's work
0:30:42 > 0:30:46and soon worked out ways of using this reliable release of energy.
0:30:46 > 0:30:50They find out that Sir John's work led to scientists in America
0:30:50 > 0:30:54building a huge bomb that used the power created by splitting atoms.
0:30:58 > 0:31:01But they also find out Sir John worked at somewhere called Harwell,
0:31:01 > 0:31:05which looked to develop peaceful uses of nuclear energy,
0:31:05 > 0:31:07just like it said on the plaque.
0:31:07 > 0:31:11A report from 1956 explained how splitting the atom
0:31:11 > 0:31:14could be turned into electricity for people's homes.
0:31:14 > 0:31:17'The research done here has made possible the huge power plant
0:31:17 > 0:31:21'at Calder Hall which soon will be going into operation, making Britain
0:31:21 > 0:31:25'the proud owner of the world's biggest nuclear power station.
0:31:25 > 0:31:27'Heat from the atomic pile in the reactor
0:31:27 > 0:31:29'is applied to heat exchangers which produce steam.
0:31:29 > 0:31:33'Along these pipes, the steam travels to the generator building
0:31:33 > 0:31:35'which houses the giant turbines.'
0:31:36 > 0:31:38Next, Hannah and James are meeting
0:31:38 > 0:31:41some of Sir John Cockcroft's relatives.
0:31:41 > 0:31:43Son Chris and nephew Peter Cockcroft
0:31:43 > 0:31:46have brought along a few of his things as well as their memories.
0:31:46 > 0:31:50Sir John has become a really important man in history,
0:31:50 > 0:31:53but to them, he was a good dad and a wise uncle.
0:31:53 > 0:31:57This is his faithful suitcase that he took on many journeys overseas.
0:31:57 > 0:31:59In here, we've got some pictures of him.
0:31:59 > 0:32:02This one which was taken at the Nobel Prize giving.
0:32:02 > 0:32:06You've got my father being presented with the Nobel Prize medal
0:32:06 > 0:32:07by the King of Sweden.
0:32:07 > 0:32:11Here is a picture of my father receiving the Freedom of Todmorden.
0:32:11 > 0:32:14- I think you said it was 1949. - '46.- '46.- 1946.
0:32:14 > 0:32:16What was he like as a father?
0:32:16 > 0:32:19He always had an open door for the family.
0:32:19 > 0:32:23He gave us lots of good advice and he was a wonderful dad,
0:32:23 > 0:32:25really, even though he was away an awful lot.
0:32:27 > 0:32:29Guys, well done today. I know you have learned a lot.
0:32:29 > 0:32:31It doesn't get any more complicated than that.
0:32:31 > 0:32:33'At the end of a mind-boggling day,
0:32:33 > 0:32:37'the History Hunters tell me what they've learned.'
0:32:37 > 0:32:40Have we got our heads around how a nuclear power plant works?
0:32:40 > 0:32:45You've got the atom that's split
0:32:45 > 0:32:49and it creates the heat which turns the wheel
0:32:49 > 0:32:52which creates the energy
0:32:52 > 0:32:55which creates the electricity that goes around.
0:32:55 > 0:32:57- Yeah.- And then it goes to homes.
0:32:57 > 0:33:00Goes to your home, my home, goes everywhere.
0:33:00 > 0:33:05- So now can we all see how important Sir John Cockcroft was?- Yes.
0:33:05 > 0:33:06Yeah.
0:33:06 > 0:33:08From a small plaque in Todmorden,
0:33:08 > 0:33:11today's History Hunters have travelled across the North West
0:33:11 > 0:33:14to discover more about the amazing life of Sir John Cockcroft,
0:33:14 > 0:33:16a real pioneer,
0:33:16 > 0:33:21whose work spread much further than his hometown of Todmorden.
0:33:24 > 0:33:29John Cockcroft was born in 1897 in Todmorden in Lancashire
0:33:29 > 0:33:30to a family of mill owners.
0:33:30 > 0:33:34He was fascinated by mathematics and the world around him.
0:33:34 > 0:33:37In the 1920s, he started to research the properties
0:33:37 > 0:33:40of the smallest particles in the universe - atoms.
0:33:40 > 0:33:44John Cockcroft and his partner Ernest Walton wanted to know
0:33:44 > 0:33:47what would happen if you split up the nucleus of an atom.
0:33:47 > 0:33:51In 1932, they invented a machine called a voltage multiplier
0:33:51 > 0:33:55that could create enough energy to reliably split atoms
0:33:55 > 0:33:59time after time the first time anyone in the world had done this.
0:33:59 > 0:34:03The discovery led to Sir John Cockcroft winning the Nobel Prize,
0:34:03 > 0:34:05one of the top awards in the world.
0:34:05 > 0:34:09They also discovered this reaction created huge amounts
0:34:09 > 0:34:12of heat and light energy which they knew could be useful.
0:34:12 > 0:34:16The first application of splitting the atom was to take this energy
0:34:16 > 0:34:18and create a nuclear bomb
0:34:18 > 0:34:21that killed hundreds of thousands of people in Japan.
0:34:21 > 0:34:26Cockcroft spent the rest of his life trying to invent peaceful uses
0:34:26 > 0:34:27for this atomic energy,
0:34:27 > 0:34:29and in 1956 his work led directly
0:34:29 > 0:34:33to the opening of the first nuclear power station in the world
0:34:33 > 0:34:35at Calder Hall in Cumbria.
0:34:35 > 0:34:38By focussing on the very smallest particles known to man,
0:34:38 > 0:34:41Sir John Cockcroft had laid the basis for creating
0:34:41 > 0:34:44a new source of energy for the world's homes.
0:34:50 > 0:34:53I'm Joe Crowley, and this is History Hunt,
0:34:53 > 0:34:56where children investigate exciting stuff from the past.
0:34:59 > 0:35:00Big stuff.
0:35:00 > 0:35:03- Incredible, isn't it? - Wow! It's massive.
0:35:03 > 0:35:04Surprising stuff.
0:35:06 > 0:35:07Clever stuff.
0:35:07 > 0:35:11The clues are everywhere if you know where to look,
0:35:11 > 0:35:14and finding them is fun.
0:35:28 > 0:35:31The History Hunters are thinking big
0:35:31 > 0:35:34and finding out about a man who won a competition
0:35:34 > 0:35:38and got to design a giant cathedral that took 70 years to build.
0:35:38 > 0:35:41That's a bit different from his other famous design -
0:35:41 > 0:35:43a tiny telephone box.
0:35:45 > 0:35:48Today, I'm in Liverpool, home to the Beatles, the Mersey Ferry
0:35:48 > 0:35:50and one or two football clubs.
0:35:50 > 0:35:53But the real reason I'm here is to try to piece together
0:35:53 > 0:35:55the story of a local historical figure
0:35:55 > 0:35:58who literally changed the landscape of Liverpool.
0:36:00 > 0:36:02And giving me a hand on this chilly day
0:36:02 > 0:36:05are Erin, Jade, Elliott and Jack.
0:36:05 > 0:36:08They are today's History Hunters. Right, guys, let's go.
0:36:10 > 0:36:14Behind us is our starting clue, the big, red thing. What is it?
0:36:14 > 0:36:16- A telephone box.- Good.
0:36:16 > 0:36:20Now we have mobiles, telephone boxes don't get used so often,
0:36:20 > 0:36:22but they're still a symbol of Britain,
0:36:22 > 0:36:24and there are thousands across the country.
0:36:24 > 0:36:28What could be historically important about a telephone box?
0:36:28 > 0:36:30- How long it's been around. - Yes, anything else?
0:36:30 > 0:36:33- The person who made it.- The person who made it. Yeah, very good.
0:36:33 > 0:36:36Like old London buses and red postboxes,
0:36:36 > 0:36:38they're instantly recognisable,
0:36:38 > 0:36:41but someone had to decide what they looked like.
0:36:41 > 0:36:45If we wanted to find out more about the design, where would we go?
0:36:45 > 0:36:47- A museum.- Museum, that's a good suggestion.
0:36:47 > 0:36:49'The team work out the telephone box was in some ways
0:36:49 > 0:36:54'a type of building - it's got doors and a roof, just like a house.'
0:36:54 > 0:36:58- Who designs a house? Any idea?- Architect.
0:36:58 > 0:37:01So if we want to find out more about the design of the phone box
0:37:01 > 0:37:03and who was behind it,
0:37:03 > 0:37:05I reckon an architect is a really good place to go, OK?
0:37:11 > 0:37:14This is Mushtaq. He's an architect.
0:37:14 > 0:37:17We've been looking at the telephone boxes
0:37:17 > 0:37:21and we'd like to know who gets picked for the designs and how?
0:37:21 > 0:37:24The K2 telephone box was a competition.
0:37:24 > 0:37:27They chose that design from lots of different designs
0:37:27 > 0:37:29from lots of different architects.
0:37:29 > 0:37:32Lots of building designs are chosen this way.
0:37:32 > 0:37:35Mushtaq shows us the designs for a competition he'd won.
0:37:35 > 0:37:39This is it. It's a cafe building on a park.
0:37:39 > 0:37:43We came up with an idea that was very different to everyone else's.
0:37:43 > 0:37:44It's a bit like origami,
0:37:44 > 0:37:47and that's what won the competition for us.
0:37:47 > 0:37:50Where can we see the telephone box entry?
0:37:50 > 0:37:51Well, sometimes the RIBA,
0:37:51 > 0:37:55which is the Royal Institute of British Architects,
0:37:55 > 0:37:58they hold competition entries.
0:37:58 > 0:38:00It sounds like a good clue,
0:38:00 > 0:38:03so we all headed off to the local branch of the RIBA
0:38:03 > 0:38:06to take a look on their online photographic archives.
0:38:06 > 0:38:11- What do you think we should search? - The K2.- K2! Well done, Elliott.
0:38:11 > 0:38:14We know it's called K2, don't we? What is that looked like?
0:38:14 > 0:38:17- A telephone box.- Telephone box!
0:38:17 > 0:38:22So that is clearly a design on paper for the telephone box.
0:38:22 > 0:38:24The history hunters are looking at the actual
0:38:24 > 0:38:26original designs for the phone box!
0:38:26 > 0:38:31They showed the designer was called Giles Gilbert Scott. Result!
0:38:31 > 0:38:34It also says he was born in 1880 and died in 1960
0:38:34 > 0:38:39and that the telephone box design was for a competition in 1924.
0:38:39 > 0:38:43The History Hunters look to see what else he had designed.
0:38:43 > 0:38:44They all had a theme.
0:38:44 > 0:38:48They all have big towers and they're big buildings.
0:38:48 > 0:38:50Yeah, they're huge, aren't they?
0:38:50 > 0:38:52'They wonder if he had anything to do with
0:38:52 > 0:38:56'Liverpool's biggest building. That also has a big tower.'
0:38:56 > 0:38:58The Anglican Cathedral.
0:38:58 > 0:39:02I'd say it was one of the biggest buildings in Liverpool.
0:39:02 > 0:39:06- Look, the designer is... - Sir Giles Gilbert Scott.- Yeah!
0:39:07 > 0:39:09The archive shows that the cathedral was also
0:39:09 > 0:39:12the result of a competition, held in 1903.
0:39:12 > 0:39:16And the competition was won by the same man -
0:39:16 > 0:39:18Sir Giles Gilbert Scott.
0:39:18 > 0:39:24That meant Sir Giles was only 22 when he won the competition!
0:39:24 > 0:39:26It appears the red telephone box is closely linked
0:39:26 > 0:39:29to one of Liverpool's most famous buildings.
0:39:29 > 0:39:33There's only one place to go to search for more clues.
0:39:33 > 0:39:37- What a building! Look at that tower! Incredible, isn't it?- Yeah.
0:39:37 > 0:39:40What sorts of things might we find out at a place like this?
0:39:40 > 0:39:44- The model of the church that he made?- Something about the design.
0:39:44 > 0:39:46If we want to find out more about the building,
0:39:46 > 0:39:49what sorts of sources would we see?
0:39:49 > 0:39:51- Files and documents.- Good.
0:39:51 > 0:39:55- Anything else that's not actually handwritten?- Pictures.- Good.
0:39:55 > 0:39:58But let's not forget why we are here in the first place.
0:39:58 > 0:40:02The cathedral's amazing, and that's also a historical source,
0:40:02 > 0:40:05so remember to keep your eyes open and keep looking at the building.
0:40:05 > 0:40:08OK? We are going to split into two teams.
0:40:08 > 0:40:12The guys want to speak to the people who knew Sir Giles the best,
0:40:12 > 0:40:16so we arrange for a real-life relative or three of Sir Giles
0:40:16 > 0:40:17to chat to them.
0:40:17 > 0:40:20The others are being given a real privilege
0:40:20 > 0:40:23and allowed to see the actual designs Sir Giles made
0:40:23 > 0:40:26and old photos of the cathedral's construction.
0:40:26 > 0:40:29These are the drawers where we keep all the drawings
0:40:29 > 0:40:31Giles Gilbert Scott did.
0:40:31 > 0:40:34He did hundreds and hundreds of drawings every single year.
0:40:34 > 0:40:37You know there was a competition to build the cathedral?
0:40:37 > 0:40:39- Yes.- Well, lots of people entered,
0:40:39 > 0:40:43but they had to choose just six designs
0:40:43 > 0:40:46to see who was going to win the competition,
0:40:46 > 0:40:48and these are some of the early designs.
0:40:48 > 0:40:51This one's from a very famous architect called
0:40:51 > 0:40:53Charles Rennie Mackintosh.
0:40:53 > 0:40:57And there's the one Scott had originally as his entrance.
0:40:57 > 0:41:00What do you think is different, Jack?
0:41:00 > 0:41:03- It's only got one tower. - Why you think he changed his mind?
0:41:03 > 0:41:06He grew older and he had different ideas
0:41:06 > 0:41:11and the first design is very fussy and cluttered and ornate,
0:41:11 > 0:41:13this one is much simpler.
0:41:13 > 0:41:16There's an interesting one there. That's Mr Scott there, yes.
0:41:16 > 0:41:18How many people worked on it, because it's so big?
0:41:18 > 0:41:23Over the years that it took to build the whole cathedral,
0:41:23 > 0:41:26there were hundreds and hundreds of men worked on the cathedral.
0:41:26 > 0:41:30Some of them started when they were only 14 and they carried on
0:41:30 > 0:41:31until they were old men.
0:41:31 > 0:41:34They worked the whole of their life building this cathedral.
0:41:34 > 0:41:37Do you notice anything about the dress of the people?
0:41:37 > 0:41:41- What's missing, do you think? - Helmets.- Helmets, yes.
0:41:41 > 0:41:44You won't see one hardhat in any of these photographs.
0:41:44 > 0:41:49Did Gilbert Scott live to see his cathedral fully built?
0:41:49 > 0:41:52No, he didn't, because he died in 1960
0:41:52 > 0:41:56and the cathedral wasn't actually finished until 1978.
0:41:56 > 0:41:59So it was finished a long time after he died.
0:42:02 > 0:42:05Sir Giles's son Richard, daughter-in-law Eline
0:42:05 > 0:42:08and grandson Nicholas have brought some photographs
0:42:08 > 0:42:12to show Erin and Jade. It's a terrific opportunity to meet people
0:42:12 > 0:42:15who really knew the man himself.
0:42:15 > 0:42:21That's Giles there. He was rather a sweet little boy.
0:42:21 > 0:42:26- Apparently, he didn't enjoy school very much, did he?- No.
0:42:26 > 0:42:29That's Giles, and you see the little boy on his shoulder?
0:42:29 > 0:42:31Guess who that is.
0:42:32 > 0:42:35Richard is now nearly 90 years old!
0:42:35 > 0:42:37What was he like as a dad?
0:42:37 > 0:42:40He was a great dad.
0:42:40 > 0:42:43Mischievous and humble.
0:42:43 > 0:42:46How did he get to design something so big?
0:42:46 > 0:42:52He won a competition at the age of 22.
0:42:52 > 0:42:58Formerly, he designed a pipe rack,
0:42:58 > 0:43:01- but nothing else.- A pipe rack!
0:43:01 > 0:43:05- Do you know what a pie rack is? - No.- You know people who smoke pipes?
0:43:05 > 0:43:07- Oh, yeah.- It's just something to pop your pipe in.
0:43:07 > 0:43:09So it's quite a big jump.
0:43:09 > 0:43:13They had great faith in him, even though he was so young.
0:43:13 > 0:43:18- Was he at it 24/7? - He was at it all his life.
0:43:18 > 0:43:23And he changed it many times.
0:43:23 > 0:43:29He often said that his rubber was his best friend.
0:43:29 > 0:43:32- Would he be proud of it?- No.
0:43:32 > 0:43:39The west end is completely different to his design.
0:43:42 > 0:43:46Guys, what a day. I imagine your heads are about to explode with all
0:43:46 > 0:43:49the information you've got, so sum it up for me.
0:43:49 > 0:43:52Starting with the red telephone box, what do we know about that?
0:43:52 > 0:43:55- Sir Giles Scott invented them.- Yeah.
0:43:55 > 0:43:59- It was designed in 1924. - Brilliant. Anything else?
0:43:59 > 0:44:02He won a competition when he was 22.
0:44:02 > 0:44:04Yeah, so he's a young guy in his early 20s.
0:44:04 > 0:44:08He wins a competition, and what's he going to build?
0:44:08 > 0:44:12- He was to build this.- This! You guys spoke to his family.
0:44:12 > 0:44:16- What did you learn from that? - That he was a mischievous man.
0:44:16 > 0:44:18Yeah, that's quite nice, isn't it? Anything else?
0:44:18 > 0:44:22His son said that his rubber was his best friend,
0:44:22 > 0:44:25because he swapped and changed everything.
0:44:25 > 0:44:28- He didn't finish it until 18 years after he died.- Yeah.
0:44:28 > 0:44:31- Because he kept on changing it. - Well done today, guys. Good work.
0:44:31 > 0:44:34I think that's first-class history hunting.
0:44:34 > 0:44:37The team have been all over Liverpool trying to work out
0:44:37 > 0:44:39the story behind the red telephone box,
0:44:39 > 0:44:41and it seems Sir Giles Gilbert Scott,
0:44:41 > 0:44:43the man who designed the red telephone box,
0:44:43 > 0:44:47played a huge part in making Liverpool look the way it does.
0:44:47 > 0:44:51That's the story our History Hunters have uncovered.
0:44:54 > 0:44:58Giles Gilbert Scott was born in 1880.
0:44:58 > 0:45:01Aged just 22, he won a competition to design
0:45:01 > 0:45:04Liverpool's Anglican Cathedral in 1903.
0:45:04 > 0:45:06The cathedral was Scott's first job
0:45:06 > 0:45:08but it wasn't his only major project.
0:45:08 > 0:45:12After winning the competition to design the cathedral,
0:45:12 > 0:45:15he went on to design huge buildings across the UK.
0:45:17 > 0:45:20But perhaps his most recognisable work was far smaller.
0:45:20 > 0:45:22They may not be used as much these days,
0:45:22 > 0:45:26but at their peak there were around 70,000 red telephone boxes
0:45:26 > 0:45:27across the UK.
0:45:27 > 0:45:31Scott came up with a design for the K2 box in 1924.
0:45:31 > 0:45:34His hugely influential work across Britain
0:45:34 > 0:45:37led to Sir Giles becoming knighted in 1924
0:45:37 > 0:45:39and becoming the president
0:45:39 > 0:45:42of the Royal Institute of British Architects in 1933.
0:45:42 > 0:45:46The cathedral remained his most famous building
0:45:46 > 0:45:49and its construction dominated his life.
0:45:49 > 0:45:52In fact, it remained unfinished when he died in 1960.
0:45:52 > 0:45:55Sir Giles Gilbert Scott was a hugely influential architect
0:45:55 > 0:45:59who left his mark not only on the skyline of Liverpool,
0:45:59 > 0:46:03but for a while at least, on almost every street corner in the country.
0:46:10 > 0:46:13I'm Joe Crowley and this is History Hunt,
0:46:13 > 0:46:16where children like you investigate exciting stuff from the past.
0:46:20 > 0:46:21Big stuff.
0:46:21 > 0:46:24- Incredible, isn't it?- It's massive!
0:46:24 > 0:46:25Surprising stuff.
0:46:26 > 0:46:28Clever stuff.
0:46:28 > 0:46:30The clues are everywhere
0:46:30 > 0:46:35IF you know where to look... and finding them is fun.
0:46:50 > 0:46:53In this episode, four History Hunters discover
0:46:53 > 0:46:57why men who tried to fly like birds crash-landed,
0:46:57 > 0:47:00until one amazing but largely forgotten man
0:47:00 > 0:47:02invented something WAY ahead of his time -
0:47:02 > 0:47:05the world's first flying machine.
0:47:05 > 0:47:09I'm here at the Great British seaside, Scarborough,
0:47:09 > 0:47:11on Yorkshire's east coast.
0:47:11 > 0:47:15Blue plaques are often found on important buildings
0:47:15 > 0:47:18and there's one here, but who was Sir George Cayley?
0:47:20 > 0:47:24This is Kitty, Will, Jasmine and Calvin - today's History Hunters.
0:47:24 > 0:47:27We're all going to try and piece together
0:47:27 > 0:47:30the story of Sir George Cayley. C'mon, guys, let's go!
0:47:35 > 0:47:37Right, guys, this is Paradise House
0:47:37 > 0:47:41and we have a very attractive blue plaque up on the wall.
0:47:41 > 0:47:42Who wants to read it out?
0:47:42 > 0:47:46"Sir George Cayley, 'The Father of...Aeronautics'.
0:47:46 > 0:47:49"Born at Scarborough, 1773.
0:47:49 > 0:47:52"Died at Brompton Hall, 1857."
0:47:52 > 0:47:54What do we know from looking at that?
0:47:54 > 0:47:58His nickname - what he got called after all the things he did.
0:47:58 > 0:48:02So he's known as "The Father of Aeronautics," very good.
0:48:02 > 0:48:06- Aeronautics, anyone know what that is?- Is it flight?- Flight? Yeah!
0:48:06 > 0:48:10If we want to know more about aeronautics, who could we speak to?
0:48:10 > 0:48:13- The pilot of a plane? - Pilot, that's a good idea.
0:48:13 > 0:48:15Owner of a plane.
0:48:15 > 0:48:19The History Hunters wonder if Sir Richard Branson -
0:48:19 > 0:48:22who owns an airline and is mad about flying - might talk to them.
0:48:22 > 0:48:26So, team one are off to see if they can track him down,
0:48:26 > 0:48:28whilst team two are going to speak
0:48:28 > 0:48:31to Sir George's great-great-great granddaughter, Belinda
0:48:31 > 0:48:35and her husband Mark at Brompton Hall.
0:48:35 > 0:48:39They tell Jasmine and Calvin what an amazing person Sir George was.
0:48:39 > 0:48:42He lived in this house, Brompton Hall.
0:48:42 > 0:48:46This is his workshop where he did all his drawings and experiments.
0:48:46 > 0:48:50He invented a fountain pen, a submarine, a fire screen
0:48:50 > 0:48:56for safety at theatres and also the tension reel for bicycles.
0:48:56 > 0:49:01But in an era with no cars, very few trains and certainly no aeroplanes,
0:49:01 > 0:49:04Sir George's hours of thinking
0:49:04 > 0:49:08resulted in one amazing discovery in particular.
0:49:08 > 0:49:12He studied why it was that birds flew
0:49:12 > 0:49:16and from that, why an aeroplane might fly.
0:49:16 > 0:49:18Originally, people thought birds could only stay up
0:49:18 > 0:49:20cos they flapped their wings.
0:49:20 > 0:49:25Various people made models of birds for themselves with big wings
0:49:25 > 0:49:28and jumped off buildings flapping their wings
0:49:28 > 0:49:31but they had very poor results on the whole
0:49:31 > 0:49:34and one or two big crashes when they landed miles below.
0:49:34 > 0:49:38Mark explains Sir George realised that sometimes birds flew
0:49:38 > 0:49:40without flapping their wings.
0:49:40 > 0:49:43This led to his breakthrough discovery,
0:49:43 > 0:49:48what really makes wings stay in the air - something called lift.
0:49:48 > 0:49:51This is a little model of an aerofoil.
0:49:51 > 0:49:54Let's say, if you like, a little aeroplane.
0:49:54 > 0:49:59Now what I'm going to ask you to do is to blow hard. Here we go.
0:49:59 > 0:50:01There we are, that got some lift!
0:50:02 > 0:50:07That's better. A good, hard one. I'll give it one final blow.
0:50:07 > 0:50:12That's what actually makes aeroplanes go up.
0:50:12 > 0:50:16Sir George quickly realised the significance of his discovery.
0:50:16 > 0:50:19It was so important, he scratched it into the wall
0:50:19 > 0:50:22cos he thought if it was on a piece of paper,
0:50:22 > 0:50:26and it was thrown away, all he'd discovered would be lost.
0:50:26 > 0:50:29So, right here, in Yorkshire, this is where flying started.
0:50:31 > 0:50:35Back in Scarborough, the man who owns an entire airline,
0:50:35 > 0:50:38Sir Richard Branson, has agreed to chat to Will and Kitty online.
0:50:38 > 0:50:42He tells them that 150 years ago, Sir George built a glider
0:50:42 > 0:50:46that in theory at least, should roll down a hill and take off.
0:50:46 > 0:50:48That was 50 years before
0:50:48 > 0:50:50the American Wright brothers flew a plane.
0:50:50 > 0:50:54One day he asked his coachman if he'd like to fly in the plane,
0:50:54 > 0:50:59so he climbed into the plane and to his horror, it took off
0:50:59 > 0:51:01and it flew across the Dales
0:51:01 > 0:51:04and I think at the other side of the Dales it crashed
0:51:04 > 0:51:07and I think he broke his leg or arm,
0:51:07 > 0:51:09and he promptly resigned the next day.
0:51:09 > 0:51:11150 years later, we decided to see
0:51:11 > 0:51:14if we could build a replica of the plane
0:51:14 > 0:51:17and somebody said, "Richard, would you like to fly it?"
0:51:17 > 0:51:19To my horror, the plane took off,
0:51:19 > 0:51:22flew across the Dales and crashed on the other side
0:51:22 > 0:51:25but we had proven that it could fly
0:51:25 > 0:51:27using that basic craft that he designed.
0:51:27 > 0:51:30Then you went from small planes to enormous planes
0:51:30 > 0:51:33like the Boeing 747.
0:51:33 > 0:51:36I think George Cayley should be really proud of what he'd done.
0:51:36 > 0:51:39The sad thing is, you know,
0:51:39 > 0:51:41he never saw his dream become a reality.
0:51:41 > 0:51:45I think he's not just a local hero, he's a British hero
0:51:45 > 0:51:47and he's a global hero.
0:51:48 > 0:51:51Back at the impressive staircase at Brompton Hall
0:51:51 > 0:51:54where Sir George did many of his experiments on lift,
0:51:54 > 0:51:57the young historians tell me what they've learnt.
0:51:57 > 0:52:00How important do we think Sir George was?
0:52:00 > 0:52:05Very important, cos it's led to space travel and aeroplanes
0:52:05 > 0:52:07and commercial flights.
0:52:07 > 0:52:11Really? So, everything we have now, we can track it all the way back
0:52:11 > 0:52:15to these original ideas from Sir George Cayley?
0:52:15 > 0:52:18And you guys spoke to Sir Richard Branson.
0:52:18 > 0:52:21Sir Richard had heard about George Cayley's glider, had he?
0:52:21 > 0:52:25- Yeah, and he sort of did a replica and he flew it himself.- Really?!
0:52:25 > 0:52:28The only thing he changed was he put a seat belt in it.
0:52:28 > 0:52:31So now we know at least one replica glider exists,
0:52:31 > 0:52:34I think it's time to track one down.
0:52:34 > 0:52:38The glider is currently on display at the Yorkshire Air Museum.
0:52:38 > 0:52:41- I think it's time to go and see the glider.- Yeah.- Sounds like a plan?
0:52:41 > 0:52:44- ALL:- Yeah.- Come on, then.
0:52:48 > 0:52:51Does anyone get the idea we've come to the right place
0:52:51 > 0:52:53to learn about planes?
0:52:53 > 0:52:56- ALL:- Yeah!- Yes, good, OK. We learnt about lift earlier.
0:52:56 > 0:53:00What I want you two to do, is go and see an engineer.
0:53:00 > 0:53:04Find out how you make that lift work with wings on an actual aircraft.
0:53:04 > 0:53:05You two are coming with me.
0:53:05 > 0:53:08- We'll try and find a glider. Everyone ready?- Yeah.
0:53:08 > 0:53:10Let's go.
0:53:12 > 0:53:16Kitty and Will are going to speak to an engineer
0:53:16 > 0:53:19from a company that builds aircraft.
0:53:19 > 0:53:22Andrew White tells the History Hunters just how amazing
0:53:22 > 0:53:26Cayley's discovery of lift was and how it's still used today.
0:53:26 > 0:53:29For an aeroplane to fly, it has to create lift
0:53:29 > 0:53:32and that's done by angling the wing upwards into the airflow
0:53:32 > 0:53:35and it turns the air as it goes past the wing.
0:53:35 > 0:53:39The shape and angle of an aeroplane wing changes the air around it.
0:53:39 > 0:53:42This means that above the wing you get low pressure
0:53:42 > 0:53:45and underneath it, you get high pressure.
0:53:45 > 0:53:49That low pressure above the wing sucks the aeroplane upwards.
0:53:49 > 0:53:51I'll show you what I mean.
0:53:51 > 0:53:53We're going to use this tube.
0:53:53 > 0:53:57That's going to travel very fast and that's going to be stationary.
0:53:57 > 0:54:00So that's low pressure and that's high pressure.
0:54:00 > 0:54:03Let's tip it out and try. Are you ready?
0:54:06 > 0:54:07It's going, it's going.
0:54:07 > 0:54:10The low pressure air at the top of the hose
0:54:10 > 0:54:12sucks up the paper confetti.
0:54:12 > 0:54:15That difference between the low pressure at the top,
0:54:15 > 0:54:18high pressure at the bottom, is what sucks the wing
0:54:18 > 0:54:20and lifts the aeroplane into the air.
0:54:20 > 0:54:22To put the theory into practice,
0:54:22 > 0:54:26Kitty and Will attempt to make one of Sir George's early designs
0:54:26 > 0:54:27for a flying machine.
0:54:27 > 0:54:30This is a picture that Sir George drew himself
0:54:30 > 0:54:33of the very first proper aeroplane.
0:54:33 > 0:54:36It's got a tail at the back, wing at the front -
0:54:36 > 0:54:40a balanced weight, and that tail is used for stability and control.
0:54:40 > 0:54:44No-one had ever done that before, that's what's so revolutionary.
0:54:44 > 0:54:46It left the wing to just deal with lift.
0:54:46 > 0:54:48So, we're going to make one.
0:54:54 > 0:54:58- Shall we see if it works? - Three, two, one.
0:55:01 > 0:55:03The small designs show the principle,
0:55:03 > 0:55:07but Jasmine and Calvin have found Cayley's real breakthrough glider
0:55:07 > 0:55:09hanging up in the museum.
0:55:09 > 0:55:12It was the world's first ever aeroplane.
0:55:12 > 0:55:16- Guys, what d'you think of this? - Whoa!- Oh, my God! Wow!
0:55:16 > 0:55:17That is massive!
0:55:17 > 0:55:20- Bigger than you expected?- Yeah!
0:55:20 > 0:55:23Let me show you what the original designs were
0:55:23 > 0:55:25and see if you think it matches it quite closely.
0:55:25 > 0:55:26So...
0:55:27 > 0:55:31That was the design, the wings the same shape -
0:55:31 > 0:55:33- a funny shape, isn't it?- Yeah.
0:55:33 > 0:55:36- So, imagine you're in that. - Yeah!
0:55:36 > 0:55:40- Imagine you're the one flying it. How would that feel?- Freaky!
0:55:40 > 0:55:43- Amazing.- Freaky and amazing!
0:55:43 > 0:55:47And pretty scary when it's going... at full tilt...up a hill!
0:55:47 > 0:55:50I understand why people thought it wouldn't fly.
0:55:50 > 0:55:53It might not look like it could fly, but 30 years ago
0:55:53 > 0:55:58a team of engineers and flying enthusiasts gave it a good shot
0:55:58 > 0:56:03at the same site Sir George had flown his planes, 120 years before.
0:56:03 > 0:56:04Have a look at this.
0:56:04 > 0:56:08Can you see how that works once it hits a certain speed?
0:56:08 > 0:56:12- It goes over...- It creates enough lift to take it off the ground. Wow!
0:56:12 > 0:56:14That's going a lot higher!
0:56:14 > 0:56:17From watching that, can you see how it would have taken to the air?
0:56:17 > 0:56:20And how the man would have got a sore bottom!
0:56:20 > 0:56:23Right, guys, you've joined us, excellent.
0:56:23 > 0:56:24Fresh from making their models,
0:56:24 > 0:56:28Kitty and Will are back to discuss today's findings.
0:56:28 > 0:56:32Final question, then - why isn't Sir George Cayley very well known?
0:56:32 > 0:56:36- The Wright brothers had put an engine in theirs...- Right.
0:56:36 > 0:56:38..and George Cayley hadn't,
0:56:38 > 0:56:43cos engines hadn't really been made when George Cayley was around.
0:56:43 > 0:56:46I think we can all agree now after today's History Hunt
0:56:46 > 0:56:49that we know that Sir George Cayley - he put in the groundwork.
0:56:49 > 0:56:52Finally, guys, thinking back to that blue plaque,
0:56:52 > 0:56:56does Sir George Cayley deserve the title of "Father of Aeronautics?"
0:56:56 > 0:56:57- ALL:- Yes.
0:56:57 > 0:57:00It's been a fascinating look through the history
0:57:00 > 0:57:02of a major, early Victorian inventor
0:57:02 > 0:57:05who's been overlooked by the history books.
0:57:05 > 0:57:09It seems that small blue plaque in Scarborough commemorates a man
0:57:09 > 0:57:12who almost certainly changed the world forever,
0:57:12 > 0:57:16and that's the story our History Hunters' team has uncovered.
0:57:18 > 0:57:21The Wright brothers have become famous
0:57:21 > 0:57:23as the inventors of the aeroplane,
0:57:23 > 0:57:26but the principles that allow us to fly
0:57:26 > 0:57:29were in fact discovered nearly 50 years earlier
0:57:29 > 0:57:32by a proud Yorkshireman called Sir George Cayley.
0:57:32 > 0:57:36He was born here, in Scarborough, in 1773.
0:57:36 > 0:57:39Sir George Cayley's hours in this workshop
0:57:39 > 0:57:41resulted in dozens of inventions.
0:57:41 > 0:57:44The most important discovery here
0:57:44 > 0:57:48was a calculation that showed just how a plane goes in the air.
0:57:48 > 0:57:51This simple drawing describes the principle of lift.
0:57:51 > 0:57:55It was so important, he scratched it in the doorframe of the workshop
0:57:55 > 0:57:57so it could never be lost.
0:57:57 > 0:58:00Cayley designed a series of gliders to prove his theory,
0:58:00 > 0:58:03including this one in 1804,
0:58:03 > 0:58:07that's 100 years before the Wright brothers' famous Kitty Hawk flight.
0:58:07 > 0:58:11But it was Cayley's first ever heavier-than-air manned flight,
0:58:11 > 0:58:12in 1853,
0:58:12 > 0:58:16that really laid the foundations for plane travel as we know it.
0:58:16 > 0:58:20This replica of Cayley's glider was built in the 1970s
0:58:20 > 0:58:23and here's the moment it took off at Brompton Dale,
0:58:23 > 0:58:24close to Sir George's home.
0:58:24 > 0:58:27He may be less famous than the Wright brothers
0:58:27 > 0:58:30who put an engine on their plane,
0:58:30 > 0:58:34but they conceded they'd never have been able to get up in the air
0:58:34 > 0:58:38without the work of a brilliant but largely forgotten Yorkshire genius.
0:59:03 > 0:59:06Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd