Google celebrates the 150th anniversary of Frank Hornby's birth

Today marks the 150th anniversary since the birth of Frank Hornby and to celebrate this special occasion internet giant Google has created a special 'Google Doodle'. These neat little pictures can be found on the Google homepage and have commemorated a huge range of important historical events. When clicked, the Doodles take you through to a search window full of articles relating to the subject matter.

Frank Hornby, the creator of Meccano, was born on this day in 1863 and, despite having no training as an engineer went on to create some of the best-loved toys in the world. It all started in 1899 when Hornby began making toys for his children using sheet metal - however the Eureka moment for Hornby came when he realised that if he made seperate interchangeable parts, his children could create a range of toys from a small amounts of parts.

From these humble beginnings, he went on to patent a design for something called 'Mechanics Made Easy' in 1901 before renaming it as Meccano in 1907... and the rest is history. After creating the incredibly successful construction kit, Hornby went on to make model railways and launched the hugely popular Dinky range of model cars in the 1930s.

By this stage Hornby was a millionaire and, briefly, became a Conservative MP for Everton. He died in on 21st December, 1936 and is buried in the grounds of St Andrew's Church, Maghull.

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