Interesting West Midlands facts
Famous Sussex People
Birmingham
Did you know that the worlds first Odeon cinema opened in Birmingham in 1930.
Did you know that Britains first ever 4 wheel petrol driven car was made in the city by Frederick Lanchester in 1895.
Did you know that Birmingham has 22 more miles of canals than Venice.
Coventry
Did you know that Coventry was the only British City to lose a Cathedral during the WWII bombing on 14th November 1940 ? The ruins of the old one stand beside the new, designed by Basil Spence.
Did you know that the first ever English Bicycle was made in Coventry? Built in 1870 it was called the Ariel: with a large front- and small rear-wheel (fitted with solid rubber tyres) it is obviously the forerunner of the penny farthing, though far from as extreme in dimensions. Interestingly the Rover Car Company grew from the family firm that made the Ariel.
Did you know that the phrase ‘sent to Coventry’ apparently originated during the English Civil War? It seems that in 1647 Royalist prisoners of war captured elsewhere in the Midlands were held in Coventry. In that robustly Parliamentarian stronghold the locals treated them as if they did not exist.
Famous West Midlands people
Abraham Darby | Adrian Chiles | Alan Milburn | Albert Ketelbey | Alex Lester | Alexander Parkes | Alfred Noyes | Alfred Radcliffe-Brown | Ann Haydon-Jones | Barbara Cartland | Benjamin Zephaniah | Beverley Knight | Cat Deeley | Charles Coulson | Charles Onions | Clare Short | Clive Owen | Cyril Connolly | Daniel Sturridge | David Edgar | Denise Lewis | Donald McGill | Duncan Edwards | Edward Burne-Jones | Eleanor Simmonds | Enoch Powell | Francis Aston | Francis Galton | Frank Short | Frank Skinner | Frank Whittle | George Cadbury | George Holyoake | Gillian Wearing | Goldie | Harry Parkes | James Garvin | Jasper Carrott | Jerome K Jerome | John Copley | John Curry | John Rastell | John Rogers | John Taylor | Julie Walters | Kenneth Tynan | Kristian Thomas | Laura Davies | Lenny Henry | Margaret Leighton | Mark Lewis-Francis | Marlon Devonish | Martin Johnson | Maurice Wilkes | Max Pemberton | Meera Syal | Michael Buerk | Mike Skinner | Neville Chamberlain | Nick Mason | Nigel Hawthorne | Nigel Mansell | Noddy Holder | Ozzy Osbourne | Pete Waterman | Philip Larkin | Ralph Robert Wheeler Lingen | Rex Warner | Richard Hammond | Richard Keys | Robert Kilroy-Silk | Robert Plant | Sam Allardyce | Sax Rohmer | Sir Napier Shaw | Steve Winwood | Tessa Sanderson | Thomas C Smout | Tony Garnett | Tony Hancock | Toyah Wilcox | Trevor Eve | William Bayliss | William Rastell | William Shenstone |
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