13 Impressive Facts About Manchester You Might Not Know
Manchester, how can you not love it. Situated in the northwest of England, it’s the second largest city in the UK after London. It’s too obvious to even mention that it is the world’s football Mecca, but football certainly isn’t the only thing that makes Manchester so great!
Manchester is a birthplace to many great things we love. Home to the world famous ‘Curry Mile’ and the rock group Oasis, even the world’s first ever computer was put together here. The city is enriched in proud history and thriving culture that has so much to offer for everyone. I mean, let’s face it… where would we be today without the computer?!
So, we thought we’d share with you these 13 impressive facts about Manchester that you might not have known before. Here goes…
1. Manchester is the World’s first industrial city with a rich industrial heritage nicknamed as ‘Cottonopolis’ during the 19th century.
2. World’s first passenger train station was founded in Manchester in 1830. Actually, It was the first railway to rely exclusively on steam power, with no horse-drawn traffic permitted at any time; the first to be entirely double track throughout its length; the first to have a signalling system; the first to be fully timetabled; the first to be powered entirely by its own motive power; and the first to carry mail. Phew, that’s a lot of firsts!
3. Gave the world a real science breakthrough, helping shape the world we live in today: Here, the atom was ‘split’ for the first time ever by Ernest Rutherford and the first ever modern computer – known as the ‘baby’ – was also built. And did you know this first ever commercial computer had a memory of 32 words? Awww.
4. With a population of 2.5 million, Manchester is the most linguistically diverse city in Western Europe with 200 spoken languages.
5. Has the World famous ‘Curry Mile’. Within a length of half a mile you can find over 70 South Asian cuisine restaurants one next to the other. It’s thought to be the largest concentration of South Asian restaurants outside the Indian subcontinent! *drool*
6. It has been voted ‘The best city to live in the UK’ in 2013 and is 51st in the world (Global Liveability Survey).
7. Manchester has the largest student population of any city in Europe, home to over 100,000 students.
8. 25 Nobel Prize winners have worked or studied at The University of Manchester, one of the biggest universities in the UK.
9. Manchester airport is the largest and busiest airport outside of London. It is the third busiest in the UK handling over 22 million passengers to over 200 destinations worldwide a year.
10. In 2013 the house prices in Manchester soared by 21 percent in a year, which is the fastest rate in the whole of the UK, even topping London! (Nationwide house price index)
11. It is the football capital of the world. Manchester is home to four premiership football teams including Manchester United and Manchester City. In 2013 the sport has brought in a whopping £330m worth of economic benefit to the region.
12. It is well known for its music scene: the world famous Halle Orchestra and many rock groups including Joy Division and Oasis are from here.
13. The first ever free public library, Chetham’s Library, opened here in 1653 and has been open ever since. Standing as the oldest public library in the English-speaking world, it holds over 100,000 volumes of printed books.
And in the city where Rolls met Royce does it really comes as a surprise that the first ever ‘Car-puccino’ took its trip from London to Manchester in 2010? Yes, you read that right, a car that was fuelled by coffee grounds, 11,000 espresso equivalents to be precise.
There’s just something about Manchester that’s indescribable. It’s the general buzz, the atmosphere and the vibe. So much so that we might just have to take a trip up this year for Manchester Day and spend an entire day taking in all the Mancunian pride that it has to offer.
If you liked this post then we think you might also like this similar post about Liverpool, 14 Fun Facts to Love About Liverpool.