Drug discovery and development
Penicillin, beta-blockers, interferon, anti-ulcer drugs, anti-asthma treatments and a whole host of other medical innovations owe their development wholly, or in part, to the work pioneered in Scotland.
The Monte Carlo Rally back in Scotland
The Monte Carlo Rally, one of the most famous motor sports events in the world, is coming back to Scotland in its centenary year.
Glasgow was an official starting point for the rally back in the 1920s and over the next few decades the annual occasion marked by the roar of car engines and the flash of gleaming chrome was to become an integral part of city life and culture.
By 1949 The Royal Scottish Automobile Club in Blythswood Square was the main dispatch point as the cars were flagged off at one minute intervals on their 2,000 kilometre journey down towards the south of France. The last rally to leave Glasgow was in 1973 as times changed and the rally moved away to find a starting point in other parts of the world.
Now it is coming roaring back some 38 years later. The RSAC is now a luxury hotel, complete with an impressive display of archive photographs and memorabilia, and it will once again act as the backdrop for the Centenary Monte Carlo Classic rally when it gets underway on January 27.
The 2011 rally is going back to roots and Glasgow was chosen as the starting point because of the historic connection and a successful campaign by the Caledonian Classic and Historic Motorsport Club, the RSAC, and Glasgow City Council.
The return of the Monte should be worth about £1 million in economic spin-off as the clock is turned back and the pre-1974 cars set off from Blythswood Square following the original route south through the UK, modern motorway systems permitting.
Find our more about the Monte Carlo Rally
Find out more about Scottish motor sports legends
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