5. Add Hypnosis to the List of Scottish Inventions
You are getting sleepier and sleepier… The origins of mind control stretch back to ancient Egypt, and Austrian Franz Mesmer was a pioneer in the field. However, Scottish physician James Braid (1875-1860) is considered to be the father of modern hypnosis. It was Braid who coined the term from hypnos, the Greek word for sleep. He later determined that his patients were more in a trance-like condition, not sleep. He tried to change the word to monoideism, meaning “one thought”. It never caught on, so the misnomer “hypnosis” remains to this day.
6. The Bank of England Was Founded by a Scot
It’s a quirk of history that the Bank of England was founded by a Scotsman and the Bank of Scotland was founded by an Englishman. Sir William Paterson was born in Dumfriesshire, Scotland in 1658. He made his fortune in the West Indies. He was officially a co-founder of the Bank of England, but it is said the project originated with him in 1691.
