List of interesting facts about Birmingham, England. We are proud of our great city of Birmingham. It has a long and fascinating history, has been instrumental in leading and changing the world, and currently has a great culture to be a part of.
Iron Man sculpture in Birmingham45 Interesting Facts About Birmingham
1. Birmingham is the UK’s second-largest city
2. Birmingham has been a settlement since 600 A.D.
3. Birmingham has more miles of canals than Venice – with around 100 miles in total of navigable canals.
4. About 90% of the UK is accessible from Birmingham in under four hours.
5. Birmingham is the youngest city in Europe with about 40% of the population being under 25 years old.
6. Birmingham has the largest public library in Europe. It has 10 levels and
7. Birmingham has Europe’s largest urban park outside of a capital city. There are over 8,000 acres of parks and green space.
8. Birmingham has Europe’s largest city council with 101 elected councillors representing over 1 million people.
9. Birmingham has the most Michelin-starred restaurants in the UK outside of London.
10. Balti curry was invented in Birmingham. There are over 100 Balti restaurants in the city.
11. Famous British brands such as Birds Custard, Bournville Drinking Chocolate, Cadbury Chocolate, Grenade, Gymshark, HP Sauce, Lloyds Bank, and Typhoo Tea all started in Birmingham.
12. Birmingham hosts over 50 festivals across the city every year.
13. The Birmingham Hippodrome is the UK’s busiest single theatre with over 600,000 visitors each year.
14. Both The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings stories are based on places and people in Moseley, Birmingham, where the author J.R.R. Tolkien lived.
15. Thomas the Tank Engine was invented in Birmingham by Wilbert Vere Awdry, a reverend at St Nicholas’ Church in Kings Norton.
16. The world’s first ever ODEON cinema opened in Perry Barr, Birmingham in 1930. The name ODEON stands for Oscar Deutsch Entertains Our Nation.
17. Famous bands and musicians from Birmingham include Duran Duran, UB40, Wizzard, Laura Mvula, The Streets, Electric Light Orchestra, Dexys Midnight Runners, Slade, and Ocean Colour Scene.
18. Birmingham was the birthplace of heavy metal with the bands such as Black Sabbath and Judas Priest, plus the lead singer of Led Zeppelin came from the city.
19. Some famous people born or from Birmingham include: novelist Barbara Cartland, actor Dame Julie Walters, musicians Ozzy Osbourne, Robert Plant, Ali Campbell and Duran Duran, poet Benjamin Zephaniah, TV personalities Alison Hammond, Jasper Carrot, Cat Deeley, Richard Hammond, Joe Lycett. and sports stars like Nigel Mansell, Walter Abbott, Gabriel Agbonlahor, Moeen Ali, and Dennis Amiss.
20. The Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery has the world’s largest collection of Pre-Raphaelite paintings.
21. The world’s longest running radio soap, the Archers, is recorded in Birmingham.
22. Birmingham has the oldest working cinema in the UK, called the Electric Cinema.
23. The Birmingham Jewellery Quarter produces 40% of all jewellery in the UK, which is the highest concentration of jewellery-makers in Europe.
24. At one point three quarters of all pens in the world had nibs made in Birmingham in 1875.
25. Tennis was invented on a lawn in Edgbaston, Birmingham in 1859.
26 .The FA cup was made in Birmingham, and the first football league in the world started in the city.
27. The anchor of the Titanic ship was made in the Black Country.
28 .The first ever hole-in-the heart surgery was carried out in Birmingham’s Children Hospital in 1950.
29. The Birmingham chemist Joseph Priestley discovered oxygen in 1774.
30. The first working steam engine was built in the Black Country.
31. Birmingham was home to the great scientists and inventors Matthew Boulton, James Watt and William Murdoch, and they were instrumental in Birmingham to being first manufacturing town in the world.
32. Birmingham used to be known as the city of a thousand trades.
33. The Birmingham Bullring has been home to indoor and outdoor markets since the 12th century.
34. The first Catholic cathedral built in Great Britain after the reformation is in Birmingham. St Chad’s was designed by the great Gothic Revivalist Augustus Welby Pugin, who was also responsible for the Palaces of Westminster and the iconic clock tower of Big Ben.
35. The first postage stamp was invented in 1839 by a schoolteacher in Birmingham called Rowland Hill.
36. The game Cluedo was invented in Birmingham in 1943 by Anthony and Elva Pratt.
37. William Murdoch invented gas lighting in Birmingham in 1792. The first street in Birmingham to have gas street lighting is known as Gas Street.
38. Birmingham chemist Thomas Allcock invented the plaster cast for broken bones in 1854.
39. Birmingham has five universities – University of Birmingham, Birmingham City University, Aston University, University College Birmingham, and Newman University.
40. There’s a crater on the moon called Birmingham.
41. Birmingham, Alabama was named after Birmingham, England.
42. Spaghetti junction in Birmingham is the original junction/intersection named as such. Completed in 1972 it was named locally as spahetti junction after a local journalist called it a “cross between a plate of spaghetti and an unsuccessful attempt at a Staffordshire knot”.
43. Old Joe, the local name for the Joseph Chamberlain Clock Tower, is the tallest free-standing clock tower in the world.
44. Birmingham has nine sister cities – Lyon, Frankfurt am Main, Milan, Changchun, Leipzig, Chicago, Johannesburg, Guangzhou, Nanjing.
45. People from Birmingham are called Brummies.
Facts about BirminghamWe hope you enjoyed this epic list of fun facts about Birmingham. Did you learn anything new?
Try your luck at the Ultimate Birmingham Quiz here.