Scotland's vote for independence: 7 things we can thank the Scots for

Scotland is right now voting for a referendum that will decide their future with United Kingdom. After 300 years, Scotland could be a independent nation and possibly the first country in the 21st century that is born without a violent struggle and one that people voted for. It’s all very historic and while not everyone in Britain will be happy at Scotland leaving the United Kingdom, let’s not forget that Scotland has given the world some very important things. Here are 7 things that Scotland gave the world. 1. Golf: The game of the rich, modern golf was first played in Scotland in the 15 century, according to Wikipedia. Interestingly, the entry also points out that Scotland’s King James II had banned golf in 1457, later on King James IV removed this ban in 1502. It was also in his reign that the we get to see records about the first golf clubs, according to Andrew Leibs books titled Sports and Games of the Renaissance. Additionally, The Open Championship, which is one of the most important and oldest golf trophies, began in Scotland in 1860. For golf fans and players, the St Andrews golf course in Scotland is as good as a pilgrimage site. 2. Haggis: Okay, Haggis doesn’t really sound appetising, but it’s a dish, and not just any dish. Essentially Haggis is a sheep’s stomach stuffed with the sheep’s liver, lungs and heart and some diced vegetables. Haggis takes around 3 hours too cook. By the way, Scotland’s national poet Robert Burns wrote an ode to the Haggis as well , so you can see why this is an important, important dish. 3. Tartan: This is the name for the criss-cross pattern you’ve seen on Scottish kilts (the traditional skirts worn by Scottish men). Tartan has, of course, become a fashion statement of sorts. This is obviously another serious Scottish export given they have their own Register of Tartans, which came into being by an act of the Scottish Parliament in 2008, to protect, promote and preserve tartan. The Register is a database of tartan designs, maintained by the National Records of Scotland and people are asked to register their designs to patent them. 4. Raincoat: You might call it raincoat now but it was originally known as the Macintosh, and named after the man who invented it: Charles Macintosh. Macintosh came up with the raincoat in Scotland in 1824, according to this Wikipedia article on the same. Macintosh was essentially water-proof rubberised fabric and it was the Scotsman who got the first patent for this. 5. Penicillin: Penicillin which is the world’s first anti-biotic was discovered by Scottish origin Alexander Fleming in 1928. However the eventual development of penicillin was by Australian Howard Walter Florey, together with the Ernst Chain and they along with Fleming got the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1945. 6. Logarithms: A Scottish high-born who dropped out of school, John Napier is considered to be the inventor of logarithms. He is also credited for making the use of decimal point common in mathematics. Interestingly, Napier invented a manually-operated calculating device called the Napier’s Bones. 7. Scotch: Scotch whiskey is probably the one thing that people all around the world love and will be eternally grateful to Scotland for. One of the smoothest forms of whiskeys, it is made from malted barley originally. The production of Scotch is done with utmost care in order to keep up the standards and all production has to conform to Scotch Whiskey Regulations 2009.