INVENTOR

Barnes Wallis

1887 - 1979

Photo of Barnes Wallis

Icon of person Barnes Wallis

Sir Barnes Neville Wallis (26 September 1887 – 30 October 1979) was an English engineer and inventor. He is best known for inventing the bouncing bomb used by the Royal Air Force in Operation Chastise (the "Dambusters" raid) to attack the dams of the Ruhr Valley during World War II. The raid was the subject of the 1955 film The Dam Busters, in which Wallis was played by Michael Redgrave. Among his other inventions were his version of the geodetic airframe and the earthquake bomb, including designs such as the Tallboy and Grand Slam bombs. Read more on Wikipedia

His biography is available in different languages on Wikipedia. Barnes Wallis is the 382nd most popular inventor (down from 381st in 2019), the 4,856th most popular biography from United Kingdom (down from 4,481st in 2019) and the 63rd most popular British Inventor.

Memorability Metrics

Loading...

Page views of Barnes Wallis by language

Loading...

Among INVENTORS

Among inventors, Barnes Wallis ranks 382 out of 426. Before him are Henry J. Kaiser, Robert S. Langer, Wordsworth Donisthorpe, Charles Darrow, Frank Piasecki, and Isaac Pitman. After him are Johan Vaaler, George Stibitz, George Beauchamp, Robin Li, William Friese-Greene, and Oliver Evans.

Most Popular Inventors in Wikipedia

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous

Contemporaries

Among people born in 1887, Barnes Wallis ranks 261. Before him are Emil Magnusson, Umberto Zanolini, Emilio Lunghi, Adriaan Fokker, Giuseppe Domenichelli, and Charles Reisner. After him are Walter Janssen, Ira Davenport, Lynn Fontanne, Monte Blue, Arvi Pohjanpää, and Harold Walden. Among people deceased in 1979, Barnes Wallis ranks 245. Before him are Jan Pijnenburg, Hans Scherfig, Ben Lyon, Elizabeth Ryan, Wálter Guimarães, and Vasily Solovyov-Sedoi. After him are Bart McGhee, Karel Senecký, Shirley Mason, Constant Joacim, Aksel Berg, and Judee Sill.

Others Born in 1887

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous

Others Deceased in 1979

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous

In United Kingdom

Among people born in United Kingdom, Barnes Wallis ranks 4,857 out of 8,785. Before him are Isaac Pitman (1813), William Mitchell Ramsay (1851), Michael Foot (1913), Alan Hansen (1955), Grey Owl (1888), and John Eliot (1604). After him are Bart McGhee (1899), Michelle Dockery (1981), Josh Bowman (1988), Mark Haddon (1962), David Owen (1938), and Lady Charlotte Guest (1812).

Others born in United Kingdom

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous

Among INVENTORS In United Kingdom

Among inventors born in United Kingdom, Barnes Wallis ranks 63. Before him are Kirkpatrick Macmillan (1835), Thomas Wedgwood (1771), Joseph Bramah (1748), John Milne (1850), Wordsworth Donisthorpe (1847), and Isaac Pitman (1813). After him are William Friese-Greene (1855), John Whitehurst (1713), Roger C. Field (1945), Lawrence Hargrave (1850), and Frank Hornby (1863).

British born Inventors

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous