Spurred on by the pathetic headphones dished out on transatlantic flights, Dr. Amar Bose invented noise cancelling in 1979 – and made travel bearable again in the process. Admittedly, the first headset was designed for pilots and it would take until 2000 for the Bose QuietComfort (QC1) to make it onto the high street, but his patented Acoustic Noise Cancellation Technology was well worth the wait.