10 Facts You Won’t Know About Manchester
Manchester is an exciting city full of so much culture and history. It also has some pretty epic Christmas markets. But what else do you know about the Northwest city? Well, just take a look at these 10 facts you won’t know about Manchester…
1. Manchester Pedestrians
image via www.telegraph.co.uk
Ever find you are waiting to cross the road for a long time in Manchester? That’s probably because 40% of the pedestrian-crossing buttons in the city do not work.
2. The Soviet Union Invasion
image via www.dailymail.co.uk
The city of Manchester was nearly invaded by the Soviet Union in 1974. The USSR even drawn up detailed plans on how to invade, and planned on sending T-72 battle tanks through the A56 between Deansgates and Stretford.
3. Mummy Studies
image via www.key2radio.co.uk
Would you love to study ancient mummies? Well there’s only one place in the world where you can do just that. Where are we talking about? Manchester, of course! If you would like to earn a degree in mummies, you can apply for the University of Manchester.
4. Fantastic Theatre
image via www.snipview.com
If you want to catch a superb play or musical, you should definitely head to Manchester, as the city offers more theatre seats per head of population outside of London. One of the best theatres in Manchester just has to be the Royal Court Theatre.
5. Football & Finances
image via www.telegraph.co.uk
Football has a major impact on the city, as the sport is fundamental to Manchester’s economy. For example, football created £330 million for the region in 2013 alone. That’s like the combined wage of the Manchester United players!
6. Emmeline Pankhurst
image via www.theguardian.com
Emmeline Pankhurst was the leader of the Suffragette movement. Mancunians would therefore be proud to learn the activist was born in Manchester’s Moss Side, as her passion, determination and leadership helped women win the right to vote.
She was born to politically active parents. The family moved to Seedley in Pendleton, located on the outskirts of Pendleton, soon after her birth. Her father, Robert Goulden, also served for several years on the Salford Town Council.
7. 20 Nobel Prize Winners
image via www.probashionline.com
The Nobel Prize is a set of international awards administered by the Nobel Foundation in Stockholm, Sweden. It is awarded in recognition of academic, cultural or scientific advances. It will delight many Mancunians to learn that 25 Nobel prize winners have hailed from the University of Manchester.
The first Mancunian Nobel Prize winner was Dr. JJ Thomson who won a Nobel Prize in the area of Physics in 1906. The most recent Mancunian Nobel prize winners are Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov for groundbreaking experiments regarding the two-dimensional material graphene in 2010.
8. The Oldest Public Library
image via www.newmanchesterwalks.com
Chetham Library in Manchester offers the oldest public library in the English speaking world, and was opened by the rather wealthy Humphrey Chetham back in 1653.
9. The World’s First Industrial City
image via www.snipview.com
Manchester was the very first industrial city in the world. It was even coined “Cottonopolis” and “Warehouse City” during the Victorian era, as it was class as the cotton-making capital of the world in the 18th century.
10. Rolls Royce
image via www.nicehdwallpaper.com
Rolls Royce may never have been if it wasn’t for Manchester. It was in this electric city that Henry Royce made his very first car in his Manchester factory in 1904. That same year, he was introduced to Charles Rolls at the Midland Hotel on 4th May.
One amazing gift Manchester gave the UK just has to be Coronation Street – so click here for some great facts about one of the nation’s favourite soaps. Follow Heart Britain today on Facebook & Twitter.
