Apple’s iPhone smartphone is more important invention than the flush toilet, spectacles, trains and even the shoe, a Tesco Mobile survey showed.

A total of 4,000 adults placed iPhone at eighth position, ahead of flush toilet, spectacles, trains, the shoe, the bed and the roof, which were voted at 9th, 20th, 24th, 30th, 42nd and 44th positions respectively.

The wheel was voted as the most important invention in the human history, while the aero plane, the light bulb, the worldwide web and computers were placed at 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th positions respectively.

Graham Bell’s telephone came sixth, followed by discovery of Penicillin.

Tesco Mobile's CEO Lance Batchelor expressed surprise at the result of the survey.

Speaking on the topic, he said, “It's amazing to see how much the iPhone is valued, sitting alongside inventions such as Penicillin in people's perceptions.”

As per Apple’s claim’s it has already sold more than forty-two million units of the iPhone since its launch in 2007.