Welcome to Manchester, the vibrant city of the United Kingdom!
From its world-famous landmarks 🏛️ to its rich cultural heritage, it offers fascinating facts for you to discover!
This article will offer some amazing facts about Manchester that will amaze you!
So, Let’s embark on this exciting 😄journey!
Amazing Manchester Facts
Manchester City: The Prime textile manufacturer during the Industrial Revolution
I am quite amazed to come across this significant secret about Manchester!
During the Industrial Revolution, the city turned out as a prominent cotton manufacturer, creating as well as exporting textiles across the world. Also, it was the first city to be industrialized.
Still today, the textile industry dominates Manchester and employs hundreds and thousands of locals.
Also, many notable fashion brands are based in the city. Some of those are I Saw It First, In the Style, Boohoo, Pretty Little Thing, and JD Sports.
The thriving manufacturing industry is one of the things for which Manchester is famous.
Manchester City: The first settlement was a Roman Fort
Little fact diggers, explore this unique secret about this unique city of Manchester with me! Interested? Let’s begin.
The first recorded reference to Manchester, in 79 AD, was the Latin name Mamucium.
The suffix ‘Chester’ originated from the Old English word for castle 😲after the Romans built the Mamucium Fort.
A reconstruction is available to see in Castlefield’s Heritage Park. However, it wasn’t until the year 1853 that Manchester got official recognition as a city.
Chetham’s Library: It was the first to open to public
This beautiful city of Manchester offered the first free public library📚.
Opened more than 350 years ago in the year 1653, Chetham’s Library is the oldest one 😲in the United Kingdom.
The wonderful sandstone building dates to the year 1421 and even houses books that are hundreds of years old.
Today, this library is still in use, and people can book a guided tour to learn more about this structure.
The Manchester Metrolink: Meet the first tram in the UK
I am really happy to explore this memorable fact about Manchester City!
The city was not only a pioneer in railways; it even led the way in developing the modern tram system.
In 1992, the Metrolink opened, and today it sprawls around the city with 99 stops across a track of 64 miles.
Around 10 million journeys are made annually, and this tram is highly popular with commuters and also a great way to hop between sights on a city break.
Apart from the metro, another great way to see the city is through the city center canal cruise.
Manchester Liverpool Road: The first inter-city railway in the world
Little globetrotters, have you heard about the first inter-city railway 🚆 in the world? No??
You will be amazed to know that it is in Manchester!
The railway connecting Liverpool and Manchester was the first to be purpose-built for goods and passengers to travel between cities.
It was built by George Stephenson in September 1830.
The route was built especially to transport cotton from the port of Liverpool to the cotton mills of Manchester. This event kickstarted the industrial revolution.
The line remains still in operation today, so people can travel on a piece of history.
The Suffragette Movement: It started in Manchester City
In the year 1903, the feminist movement started in the city of Manchester when the Women’s Social and Political Union was established by Emmeline Pankhurst.
The group became famous as the Suffragettes, and their main goal was for women to be granted the right to vote in general elections.
“Votes for Women” 👩was their slogan, and they engaged in direct-action activism.
However, it wasn’t until the year 1928 that all women over 21 in the United Kingdom were entitled to vote.
The University of Manchester: 25 Nobel Prizes and counting
I am very impressed to learn one of the proud facts about Manchester🏫!
One of the most prestigious universities in the United Kingdom is the University of Manchester.
Also, among its staff and alumni, we will be able to find 25 Nobel Prize winners. Quite impressive! Isn’t it?
In 1917, the first time an atom was split was at this university physicist Ernest Rutherford.
Also, the first stored-program electronic computer was invented here in 1948.
There are two other universities in Manchester, the Royal Northern College of Music and Manchester Metropolitan. In total, more than 75,000 students study here.
Manchester United: Most popular football club around the globe
If you are a fan of soccer⚽ like me, then you will surely love this famous secret about Manchester!
It is the famous city where the professional football league was born. In 2019, research by Kantar found that there are more than 1.1 billion followers of Manchester United across 39 nations.
In 1878, this club was founded, and in 2017, it became the highest-earning football club in the world.
Its trophy cabinet is full of many notable shields and trophies🥇, such as 21 Community Shields, 20 League Titles, 5 League Cups, and 12 FIFA Cups. They are even three-time Champions League winners.
The Guardian newspaper: It comes from the city of Manchester
Just like me, you will be quite amazed to explore the relationship between Manchester City and the Guardian newspaper! Let’s explore.
In 1821, this famous newspaper 📰started life as the Manchester Guardian, which was over 200 years ago.
Later, in 1959, before becoming The Guardian, it was founded by a cotton merchant, John Edward Taylor.
He aimed to be politically neutral while upholding the journalists’ values of integrity and truth.
Later, this newspaper grew into a national broadsheet and is now famous as the country’s 4th most-read newspaper, with a reach of around 30,000 readers monthly.
Manchester: Officially, it is the best city in the UK to live in
According to the Global Livability Survey done by The Economist, the city of Manchester is the best city in the entire United Kingdom to live in.
In the year 2022, it was ranked the 28th best city😲 in the world. While the number one spot is currently occupied by Vienna.
The annual survey is done while considering 30 different aspects across 5 main categories, including culture and environment, healthcare, education, stability, and infrastructure.
Manchester in 2017: Election of the first mayor of Greater Manchester
Since May 2017, Andy Burnham has worked as the first-ever mayor of Greater Manchester.
Prior to being elected, he had a long career as a Labor MP and even finished second in the 2015 Labor leadership race. Later, he was reelected✌️ in the year 2021. Sounds interesting! Right?
Manchester City: The third-largest populated city in UK
Little friends, have you heard this famous secret about the city of Manchester??
Manchester is the third biggest city in the entire United Kingdom and is home to 547,627 people.
However, Greater Manchester is home to around 2.5 million people.
Greater Manchester also includes Trafford, Salford, and the surrounding villages and towns.
Manchester City: It is twinned with the city of Wuhan
Little fact diggers, let’s explore one of the interesting facts about Manchester City that you might not know! |Interested??
The secret is that this wonderful Manchester City is twinned with the Wuhan city of, China.
Also, Manchester has a significant Chinese community, and its Chinatown area is very popular with tourists.
Since 1986, the arrangement has been in place and aims to help in international investment and trade between China and the UK.
When in Wuhan in 2020, the coronavirus pandemic broke out, leaders of Manchester sent medical equipment and support to their sister citizens in China.
Rolls-Royce: Its birthplace is Manchester
Love to enjoy a ride in the luxurious 🚗Rolls-Royce??
In May 1904, Charles Rolls and Henry Royce had a meeting at the Midland Hotel in the center of the city.
Charles was a millionaire, and Henry was an engineer. By 1906, they had formed the famous company Rolls-Royce together.
Today, if we visit the hotel, we will see an unusual statue depicting the meeting of the two men.
The company created luxury cars, moving on to manufacture airplane engines after World War I.
By 1907, the Rolls-Royce 40/50 was crowned by Autocar magazine as “the best car in the world.”
Manchester City: Find the pub in an underground Victorian public toilet
In the center of Manchester City, on Great Bridgewater Street, we will get to see an entrance to an underground station.
However, it is actually a pub🍷 in a refurbished public toilet dating back to the Victorian era.
The Temple is a small bar, a flight of stairs in the middle of the road. It even has a retro vibe with fairy lights everywhere, a jukebox, and posters filling the walls.
Manchester: Workers Bees are symbolic here
Have you seen bees?? Those are quite symbolic in Manchester!
During the industrial revolution, the worker bee 🐝became iconic here!!
The reason is that it represented the work ethic of the individuals who worked in its busy factories and cotton mills.
The symbol of the bee features in the official coat of arms of the city, as well as the logos of the Boddington and the University 🏛️of Manchester.
The bee became a prominent symbol of strength and anti-terrorism after the Manchester Arena Bombing 💣 in the year 2017.
Manchester City: It is a linguistically diverse city
The city of Manchester is a linguistically diverse city in the UK. Every day, more than 200 languages are spoken in this wonderful city. Also, it is believed that around half of the adult population in Manchester is multilingual! Sounds interesting!!
Manchester City: It is home to the iconic Gay Village
The wonderful city of Manchester is famous as one of the most LGBT+ friendly cities on the planet 🌎.
It is home to the Gay Village, which attracts visitors from all around the globe and even has a thriving nightlife scene.
Summing up
So little knowledge diggers, now you know that Manchester is a wonderful city that proudly celebrates its rich history, the industrial revolution, and modern advancements.
From world-famous landmarks and underground pubs to being the best city in the UK to live in and the home ground of the famous football team, what in Manchester attracts you the most?
As we are already on this exciting😄 journey, we would love to know your feedback!
I’m a former teacher (and mother of Two Childs) with a background in child development. Here to help you with play-based learning activities for kids. ( Check my Next startup Cledemy.Com)
