What's the link between feminism, trainers and bungee jumping? All of them were made in Britain.

I learned this during a recent quiz which also asked where pencils were invented (too easy for us living in West Cumbria!).

Oh, I do love a historical fact. I’m not impressed with wealth or breeding, but I find it an appealing quality in a man if he has a fine pair of shoulders and can recite an interesting tale about a 17th century explorer or is aware of Mary Wollstonecroft.

History has always been my favourite subject, I actually have a degree in the subject, and can to this day feel my stress levels go down if I happen upon a picture book about the kings and queens of England.

When I was a child, my mother – who could never persuade me to go to dancing classes or care about horses – kept me quiet by buying those Readers’ Digest books with titles such as Strange but True; Odd Coincidences in History, or Fact or Fiction: Tales from the Past.

Even now I would find it hard to walk past a book which has the word ‘mystery’ in the title, or has a cover picture of a woman wearing a crinoline.

If you are fascinated by people then you can not fail to be enticed by history, which is basically humans messing up (starting wars, becoming dictators, or failing to heed warnings) or humans rising to the occasion (inspirational leaders, those who were courageous under pressure and inventors who changed the world).

Since I am such a huge nerd, after reading about how trainers were developed in Bolton, I then spent a good two hours reading about all the amazing inventions made by the British.

Hip replacements, chocolate, toothbrushes, the sewerage system, the worldwide web, and ATM machines were all invented in this country.

Just think, without these amazing inventions the men in your life could not catch up with the sports news or watch cats scare off crocodiles on YouTube while sitting on the toilet. Progress is a marvellous thing.

One of my favourite quotes from history is attributed to Charles H Duell. As commissioner of the US patent office in 1899, he is alleged to have said: “Everything that can be invented has been invented.”

I have a vision of Mr Duell sitting rather smugly in his horse-drawn carriage, with his wife in her corset and bonnet with absolutely no idea of female emancipation, thinking: “This is as good as it gets, and I for one am most delighted!”

After trawling through the greatest inventions ever developed, I also looked up those ideas which we may take for granted in the future. These include active contact lenses which will do away with wristwatches, mobiles, tablets and TVs; everything will literally be there in the blink of an eye.

There was also a mention of polymer gel muscles which will give you superhuman powers and develop into material which could stop bullets.

Mr Duell and his contented world would certainly have his eyes opened with the imagination of his fellow humans.