X-Nico

100 unusual facts about Birmingham


1772 in Great Britain

21 September - Birmingham Canal Navigations main line open for traffic, linking Birmingham to the River Severn via the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal.

59th Bombardment Squadron

Its last assignment wa with the 319th Bombardment Group, based at Birmingham Airport, Birmingham, Alabama.

Agyenim Boateng

He worked as an Assistant Professor in Alabama State University in Montgomery, Alabama and also at Daniel Payne College in Birmingham, Alabama where he served as Assistant Professor of Political and Social Science.

Alabama Democratic primary, 2008

He also performed extremely well in the urban areas of Birmingham, Montgomery, and Mobile.

Allene Roberts

Allene Roberts (born September 1, 1928) was born in Fairfield Highlands, a suburb of Birmingham, Alabama.

Angela V. Shelton

Angela V. Shelton was born on 4 March 1970 and attended the Roeper School in Birmingham, Michigan.

Annie Easley

Annie J. Easley was an African-American computer scientist, mathematician, and rocket scientist who was born on April 23, 1933, in Birmingham, Alabama, and died June 25, 2011, in Cleveland, Ohio.

Anti-Obscenity Enforcement Act

State Representative John Rogers of Birmingham has repeatedly introduced legislation to repeal the ban, but each bill has been defeated.

Argent Centre

The Argent Centre is a Grade II* listed building on the corner of Frederick Street and Legge Road in the Jewellery Quarter of Birmingham, England.

Arthur Pentelow

He later went on to work in repertory theatre at the Bristol Old Vic, Guildford and Northampton, before joining the company at Birmingham, where his fellow actors included Derek Jacobi, Rosemary Leach and Albert Finney.

B.L. Harbert International

B.L. Harbert International, LLC, based in Birmingham, Alabama, began construction operations in 2000 under the leadership of Billy L. Harbert.

Babati Link Group

The Babati Link Group (BLG) is an educational link between King Edward VI Five Ways School, Birmingham, England and Babati Day Secondary School, Babati, Manyara, Tanzania.

Birmingham Blue Coat School

The school was founded as a charity school under the guidance of Reverend William Higgs, Rector of St Philip's Church, now Birmingham Cathedral.

Birmingham Humanists

Birmingham Humanist Group was formed on May 23, 1962 at the Arden Hotel, New Street, Birmingham, England, as a result of a notice placed in a newsletter of the Ethical Union, forerunner of the British Humanist Association (BHA), by Dr Anthony Brierley.

Birmingham, Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania

Birmingham is the site of the Birmingham Window, a geologic structure created by a Paleozoic thrust fault.

Birney Imes

Some of his work is exhibited in the permanent collection of the Mississippi Museum of Art in Jackson, Mississippi, the Birmingham Museum of Art in Birmingham, Alabama and the Art Institute of Chicago in Chicago, Illinois.

Bordesley railway station

The station still carries the painted lettering "BR(W) Bordesley Cattle Station", and "Bordesley Cattle Station GWR" from the time when, as part of the Great Western Railway and later British Rail's (Western) region, it was used to bring cattle from the countryside to the Bull Ring markets.

Brewers Investment Corporation

Its registered offices were at Nos.3-4, County Chambers, Corporation Street, Birmingham.

Brian Webber

Brian Webber (December 19, 1967) is an American actor from Birmingham, Alabama.

Bromford Group

Bromford Housing Association Limited, named after Bromford Bridge railway station in the Bromford area of Birmingham, was formed by a group of housing sector professionals in 1963.

Cecilia Costello

Born near the Bull Ring in Birmingham, she was the youngest of 10 children of parents who left Ireland to escape famine.

Centenary Square tram stop

Network West Midlands have issued a plan of route showing this as their stop on Broad Street, a major thoroughfare of the city.

Charles Atmore

His ministry until 1825 was in the following towns: York, Edinburgh, Halifax, Bristol, London, Birmingham, Manchester, Wakefield, Liverpool, Leeds, Hull, Salford, Sheffield.

Chipping Sodbury

Yate station, on the Bristol to Birmingham main line, closed in January 1965 but reopened in May 1989.

City region

The New Local Government Network proposed the creation of city regions as part of on-going reform efforts, while a report released by the IPPR's Centre for Cities proposed the creation of four large city-regions based on Birmingham, Leeds, Liverpool and Greater Manchester.

Congenital Heart Surgeons' Society

Data collection required the establishment of a Data Center, initially in Birmingham, Alabama.

Corfe Castle railway station

This locomotive was in use until 1955, and then displayed in the now defunct Birmingham Museum of Science and Industry until 2000.

Corporation Street tram stop

Corporation Street will be a stop on the city-centre extension of Line 1 of the Midland Metro onto Corporation Street in Birmingham City Centre, United Kingdom.

Corrupt practices

One of the most high-profile cases of corrupt practices in recent years was that of the local government elections in the Bordesley Green and Aston wards of Birmingham in June 2004.

Cross Country services

South West - Birmingham - the North West (CrossCountry): PenzanceBirminghamGlasgow direct (ceased after the change of CrossCountry franchise in 2007)

Danny Driver

He made his Wigmore Hall recital later that year, and has since appeared at Southbank Centre, Bridgewater Hall in Manchester, the Royal Albert Hall, and Symphony Hall, Birmingham.

DeDee Nathan

LeShundra "DeDee" Nathan (born April 20, 1968 in Birmingham, Alabama) is a retired heptathlete from the United States, who won the gold medal at the 1991 Pan American Games in Havana, Cuba.

Delcam

The company was renamed Delcam International in 1991 and moved to a new purpose built office in Small Heath.

Dottie Peoples

On July 28, 2008, Peoples performed a free concert at the East Birmingham Church of God in Christ.

Edward Thomason

He died in his house in Jury Street, Warwick in 1849, and a memorial was erected to him in St Philip's Cathedral, Birmingham.

Emmie Owen

She left the company to appear in a Christmas pantomime in Birmingham, returning to tour with the company in 1892 as Cynthia in The Vicar of Bray and as Polly in the companion piece, Captain Billy.

Evan Harris Walker

Born in Birmingham, Alabama, Harris received his Ph.D. in physics from the University of Maryland in 1964.

Frank Stitt

Frank Stitt III is the owner and executive chef of Highlands Bar and Grill, Bottega Restaurant, and Chez Fon Fon in Birmingham, Alabama.

Frisco 4003

4003 was retired in early 1952, shortly before the last steam powered train on the Frisco, between Birmingham and Bessemer, Alabama in February.

G. E. Kidder Smith

George Everard Kidder Smith (1913, Birmingham, Alabama - 1997) was an American architectural writer and photographer.

George Linnaeus Banks

George was born in Birmingham, the son of a seedsman familiar with the plant nomenclature of Linnaeus.

Gerald A. Lewis

Born in 1934 in Birmingham, Alabama to Bernard and Molly Lewis, Gerald Lewis was educated in Birmingham schools before attending Harvard College and graduating with an A.B. degree in 1955.

Greenwood Academy

Greenwood Academy, Birmingham, a secondary school in Birmingham, West Midlands, England

Gus Mayer

Gus Mayer is a Birmingham, Alabama based, family-owned, upscale specialty department store that caters to upper-end clientele and is known for its high-end fashions.

Haitian gourde

In 1863, bronze coins, produced by the Heaton mint of Birmingham, were issued.

Halesowen News

It has been in circulation since February 1985 and as well as residents of Halesowen, it is also posted to the homes of readers living in surrounding communities including Quinton, Rowley Regis, Blackheath, Cradley Heath, Old Hill and Cradley.

Harbinger Capital

Harbinger was founded by its Senior Managing Director Philip Falcone and Harbert Management Corporation, a Birmingham, Alabama-based investment company that provided much of the original funding.

Henry Folliott, 3rd Baron Folliott

He married Elizabeth Pudsey, heiress of Langley Hall, Sutton Coldfield in 1677 and built a substantial mansion, Four Oaks Hall, Sutton Coldfield, to a design by architect William Wilson.

Ilisha Jarret

Ilisha Keisha Marie Jarrett, born 8 January 1977, in Illinois, USA, is a former professional women basketball player from Birmingham, Alabama, USA.

Jack Cotton

In 1937, he built King Edward House on the site of his old school, which was rebuilt in Edgbaston close to the University of Birmingham.

Jack Cotton (1 January 1903, Birmingham - 21 March 1964, Nassau) was a British property developer.

James Lansdowne Norton

He is buried at Lodge Hill Cemetery in Selly Oak, Birmingham, England.

Janet Monach Patey

Whytock's first appearance, as a child, was made at Birmingham.

Jim Yardley

From 1990 to 1997, Yardley was a national desk reporter for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, based in Atlanta, Birmingham and New Orleans.

Johann Löwenthal

Just days after being defeated by Morphy, Löwenthal had his greatest success by winning the British Chess Association Congress knockout tournament in Birmingham, England on 27 August 1858.

John Henry Chamberlain

Chamberlain became the unofficial domestic architect to Birmingham's civic leaders, designing a string of prestigious houses in upmarket districts of South Birmingham including Highbury Hall – the home of Joseph Chamberlain himself, and now the official residence of Birmingham's Lord Mayor.

K. Lee Scott

Lee Scott (born 1950 in Valley, Alabama) is an internationally known teacher, musician, conductor and composer of sacred music, choral music and hymns, residing in Birmingham, Alabama.

Kim Sunée

She now lives in Birmingham, Alabama, and is food editor for Cottage Living magazine, a Time Warner publication.

Kinetic Communications

Kinetic Communications, based in Birmingham, Alabama, is a website and multimedia development company.

Kotli

Many Kotli city residents have ties to British nationals in the city of Manchester, Sheffield, Leeds, Bradford, Luton, Bedford, Watford and Birmingham.

Larry Taunton

Larry Alex Taunton (born, May 24, 1967) is an American author, columnist, radio talk show host, and cultural commentator based out of Birmingham, Alabama who serves as the Executive Director of Fixed Point Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to the public defense of the Christian faith.

Lee Price

Price attended the Shades Valley High School in Birmingham, Alabama, and earned her Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Alabama in Birmingham.

London Midland Region of British Railways

The region was managed first from buildings adjacent to Euston Station and later from Stanier House in Birmingham.

Lynx gang

The gang was founded in the Small Heath area of the city, but later spread to the Birmingham boroughs Lozells, Handsworth Birmingham, Sparkbrook, and Aston.

Maureen Jennings

She was born on Eastfield Road in Birmingham, England; she spent her formative years there until emigrating to Canada at the age of seventeen with her mother.

Michael Staniforth

Michael Staniforth (15 December 1942 – 31 July 1987), born in Selly Oak, Birmingham, was a British stage actor.

Mike Mordecai

Michael Howard Mordecai (born December 13, 1967 in Birmingham, Alabama) is a right-handed hitting/throwing infielder in Major League Baseball who most recently played for the Florida Marlins.

Natasha Hunt

Hunt is a qualified teacher and previously trained at King Edward's School Birmingham,in PE, before teaching at Sir Graham Balfour School in Stafford, also as a PE teacher.

National Register of Historic Places listings in Birmingham, Alabama

This is intended to be a complete list of the properties and districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Birmingham, Alabama, United States.

New Technology Institute

The New Technology Institute, Birmingham (abbreviated to NTI Birmingham) is a building, training centre and media studio located in the Learning and Leisure Zone of the Eastside of Birmingham, England.

Park Hall Nature Reserve

Park Hall is a Wildlife Trust nature reserve in Birmingham England.

Phil Mulkey

Now residing in Birmingham, Alabama, Mulkey has spent many years coaching at The Altamont School, with numerous state titles to his team's credits.

Phillip Alford

Alford appeared in three productions with Birmingham's Town and Gown Civic Theatre, whose director called up Alford's mother to see if her son was interested in auditioning for the part of Jem in To Kill a Mockingbird.

Public Library and Baths, Balsall Heath

Since their formation various community events and fundraisers have been held, including the Centenary celebration on 30 October 2007 which was attended by the Lord Mayor of Birmingham and swimmers past and present.

Rebel Love

The picture was shot on locations in Birmingham and Bessemer, Alabama during the summer of 1983, with many scenes filmed at the Tannehill Ironworks Historical State Park.

Reggie King

Born in Birmingham, Alabama, he was a 6'6" and 225 lb forward and played college basketball at the University of Alabama. He had a career in the NBA from 1979 to 1985. King's nickname in college was "the Mule.

Rick Pietri

He then spent four years as an assistant with the men's team at Spring Hill College in Mobile before moving to Birmingham and one season as an assistant for Birmingham-Southern College's successful men's NAIA program.

Ronnie Bruno

He is a co-founder and chairman of the Bruno Event Team, a Birmingham, Alabama-based sports marketing and event management company.

Roszetta Johnson

She joined a gospel vocal group, the Violet Harmonettes, and after her parents separated moved to Birmingham, and then McIntosh, Alabama.

Rudge Sisters

The Rudge Sisters were British actresses and dancers from Birmingham.

Samuel D. Ratcliffe

He grew up in Birmingham, Alabama and graduated from Birmingham Southern College, moving to New York in 1968 to pursue a career as an actor.

Saracen's Head

The Saracen's Head is the name formerly given to a group of late medieval buildings in Kings Norton, Birmingham.

Selby Clewer

He was responsible for the design of Quinton Methodist Church in 1968, St. David's Church, Shenley Green which opened in 1970 and the Friends Meeting House in Redditch and the adjoining housing complex, built for the Redditch Friends Housing Trust.

She Came In Through the Bathroom Window

In the 2006 DVD documentary The Classic Artists Series: The Moody Blues (DVD UK, released October 2006), Mike Pinder, the former keyboard player of Birmingham R&B band The Moody Blues, states that the inspiration for the song actually rests with an incident that happened to them — a groupie climbing into an open bathroom window in the band's home and spending the night with band member Ray Thomas.

Sheila Meiring Fugard

Born in Birmingham, England in 1932, Sheila Meiring moved with her parents to South Africa, in 1940, when she was eight years old.

Shifnal

The railway line from London and Birmingham to Holyhead was constructed through Shifnal at high-level in the late 1840s.

St Michael's Catholic Church, Moor Street

When the New Meeting House became unsuitable for congregation, they started construction on a new place of worship on Broad Street.

Steve Joughin

Joughin got into a breakaway and then as he approached the finish in the city of Birmingham unleashed his trademark sprint.

Stuck Rubber Baby

Although Cruse drew heavily upon his own experiences as a gay man growing up in Birmingham, Alabama, the story is fictional.

Tara Gray

She is also a former beauty queen originally from Birmingham, Alabama who has competed in the Miss Teen USA and Miss USA pageants.

Thompson Memorial Library

The window comes from the studios of Messrs. John Hardman & Company of Birmingham, England, and of the Church Glass and Decorating Company of New York, their U.S. representatives.

Tony Garnett

Born in Birmingham, Garnett lost his parents when young; his mother died when he was five from the after effects of a back-street abortion, and his father committed suicide nineteen days later.

Trocadero, Birmingham

The Trocadero, 17 Temple Street, Birmingham, England, currently a pub, is a dazzling demonstration of the use of coloured glazed tile and terracotta in the post-Victorian era of architecture.

Uhl Pottery

Upon her return, Jane was commissioned in 1928 to fill two residences for Birmingham, Alabama businessman Theodore Swann.

Undular bore

"A tornado in Birmingham, Alabama in April 1998 that came in contact with an undular bore increased in size and intensity."

Vann McElroy

Vann William McElroy (born 13 January 1960 in Birmingham, Alabama), is a former professional American football player who was selected by the Los Angeles Raiders in the third round of the 1982 NFL Draft.

W49AY

W49AY, known on-air as WAY-TV, is a low-powered religious station based and licensed in Birmingham, Alabama, owned and operated by the Glen Iris Baptist Church, who also owns WGIB radio.

Walter Schoel Engineering Co.

located in the City of Birmingham, Alabama has offered Consulting Civil Engineering, Hydrologic and Environmental Consulting, and land Surveying services, since its founding by Herman Schoel in 1888.

William Lovett

Many supporters gathered in the city's Bull Ring, but local authorities had prohibited assembly there, and several were arrested.

WTVR-TV

On January 6, 2009, Raycom and Local TV LLC announced that they would be swapping stations in Richmond and Birmingham.


1844 Victoria One Penny Model

The 1844 Victoria One Penny Model was a model coin issued by Birmingham medallist Joseph Moore (1817–1892) between 1844 and 1848, during a period in which the British Government were considering the notion of replacing the heavy copper coinage then in use.

1978–79 Birmingham City F.C. season

Jim Smith, in his first full season as Birmingham's manager, brought Argentina's World Cup-winning full-back Alberto Tarantini to the club.

1993–94 Colchester United F.C. season

United used six keepers again and Steve McGavin moved to Birmingham for £150,000 in January with no funds made available.

AmSouth Bancorporation

AmSouth was previously known as First National Bank of Birmingham, which was first organized by Charles Linn in 1872.

Anthony William Hall

He also made many speeches, in Birmingham and elsewhere, in which he set out his claim and challenged the King to a duel, with the loser to be beheaded.

Benjamin Hall Kennedy

He was born at Summer Hill, near Birmingham, the eldest son of Rann Kennedy (1772–1851), of a branch of the Ayrshire family which had settled in Staffordshire.

Birmingham Journal

The Birmingham Journal was the name of two separate and unrelated newspapers published in Birmingham, England.

Birmingham Repertory Theatre

In 2004 the company controversially cancelled as series of performances of Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti's play Behzti after protests from Birmingham's large Sikh community.

Bob Brettle

A silver belt, given to him by his patrons to honour his achievements, and made in Birmingham, was featured on the television programme Antiques Roadshow, while in the possession of one of his descendants.

Bülent Şenver

He has been through various trainings in the fields of independent auditing, managerial skills and banking in London, Birmingham, Chicago, Houston, Washington D.C., Paris, Brussels and Geneva.

Centre for International Education and Research

Early international influences in Birmingham include Elihu Burritt, a US Consul sent by Abraham Lincoln, who lived in Harborne just north of the present Birmingham University campus.

Cerruti 1881

There are Cerruti 1881, 18CRR81 and Cerruti stores throughout the world in Milan, Cosenza, Madrid, London, Munich, Stockholm, Athens, Birmingham, Riyadh, Moscow, New York, Hong Kong, Taipei, Damascus, Jakarta, and Tokyo among other locations.

Christ Church, Birmingham

Christ Church, Birmingham was a parish church in the Church of England on Colmore Row, Birmingham from 1805 to 1899.

Constance Bache

Bache was born in Edgbaston, the daughter of Samuel Bache (1804-1876), a Unitarian minister at the Church of the Messiah, Birmingham; an uncle on her mother's side was James Martineau.

Craig Pickering

During 2007, he has found success on the indoor circuit, winning the 60m event at the European Indoor Trials and UK Championships in Sheffield in early February, following this with a second place finish in the Norwich Union Grand Prix in Birmingham in the same event, behind his Bath team-mate Jason Gardener.

Don Charlwood

Here the course was split, with Charlwood and half of them posted to No. 3 Advanced Flying Unit, Bobbington, between the Severn Valley and Birmingham.

Freddie Goodwin

It was at Birmingham where he introduced the young Trevor Francis into league football.

Frederick Rolfe

In 1887 he was sponsored to train at St Mary's College, Oscott near Birmingham and in 1889 was a student at the Scots College in Rome, but was thrown out by both due to his inability to concentrate on priestly studies and his erratic behaviour.

Frederick Rushbrooke

The son of a miller and confectioner from Willenhall in Staffordshire, Frederick Rushbrooke initially established himself in business as a wholesale ironmonger in Birmingham.

Gaynor Arnold

Her debut novel Girl in a Blue Dress was published by Birmingham's Tindal Street Press in 2008, being longlisted for both the Booker Prize and the Orange Prize for Fiction.

Gerald Roush

While in high school in Birmingham, Alabama, Roush picked up a 1958 issue of Sports Car Illustrated that featured driver Phil Hill, winner of the 1958 24 Hours of Le Mans and a Ferrari 4.9 Superfast, giving birth to an interest that would last a lifetime.

Jack Whitten

Whitten is represented by Alexander Gray Associates in New York; Zeno X gallery in Antwerp, Belgium; and Guido Maus, beta pictoris gallery / Maus Contemporary in Birmingham, AL.

Jacques Secrétin

He won a gold medal in the mixed double event of the World Table Tennis Championships in 1977 at Birmingham.

John Kenneally

John Patrick Kenneally was born as Leslie Jackson at 104 Alexandra Road, Balsall Heath, Birmingham.

Jurys Inn Birmingham

Built using concrete cladding and steel joists, this building was part of the plan to redevelop Birmingham in the 1960s.

Little Kimble railway station

The G8 Summit was held in Birmingham that year and the wives of the G8 countries' leaders, including Cherie Blair and Hillary Clinton, were taken to Chequers via the Royal Train and Little Kimble, whiuch is the nearest station to Chequers.

Malcolm Boyden

Boyden has become a pantomime regular making his debut in 1997 when he played alongside Frank Bruno and Karl Howman in Goldilocks and the Three Bears at Birmingham’s Hippodrome Theatre.

Marie Weaver

In "Four Voices: Echoes," (Bare Hands Gallery, Birmingham, AL) her work was shown with Janice Kluge (sculptor), Lucy Jaffe (painter), and Sonja Rieger (photographer) and Marie Weaver (printmaker).

Mars Automatic Pistol

It was manufactured first by Webley & Scott and later by small gunmakers in Birmingham and London.

No More Night: Live in Birmingham

No More Night: Live in Birmingham is a live CD/DVD from Christian singer David Phelps.

Patel Taylor

Most recently the newly completed Eastside City Park was awarded 4 RIBA awards – a National award, West Midlands award, Building of the Year award and Client of the year for Birmingham City Council.

Phil Bayton

Joining the Thornhill Cycling Club in Birmingham he won a handicap race at Hirwaun in South Wales as a 16 year old junior and a year later was part of the GB Olympic squad under Norman Sheil.

Richard Tomkins

Richard Tomkins attended King Edward's School in Birmingham.

Ritchie Coliseum

Terrapins pugilists Ben Alperstein and Tom Birmingham went on to compete in the national intercollegiate championship in Sacramento, California.

Robert James Clayton

When the BBC resumed television service from Alexandra Palace after the war GEC won the important contract to implement the first link to another transmitter at Birmingham.

Robert Lee Minor

Minor was born in Birmingham, Alabama, and made his first television appearance in 1973 on the television program, Search, then appeared in tons of shows such as: Barnaby Jones, McCloud, The Six Million Dollar Man, Eight is Enough, and Starsky and Hutch among other popular television programs.

Robin Corbett, Baron Corbett of Castle Vale

Siôn Simon replaced him as Labour Member of Parliament for Birmingham Erdington.

Sadie Lloyd

Pam was revealed to be living in Birmingham, having been paroled a year earlier, working as a maid.

Tiger Smith

Originally an employee with the Cadbury confectionery firm in Birmingham, he was first engaged by Warwickshire as a professional in 1904 but played only irregularly for over half a decade owing to the presence of Lilley behind the stumps.

Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Holy Family of London

In the Midlands, there was a Ukrainian Catholic priest celebrating Ukrainian-rite services for the Ukrainian faithful in Coventry, as well as in Rugby, Gloucester, Bristol, Birmingham and Cheltenham.

University House, University of Birmingham

It is located in beautiful grounds in the conservation area of Edgbaston, Birmingham.

University of Guyana

Drayton returned to British Guiana in December 1962, and it was on his advice that Jagan wrote to socialist scholars in the United Kingdom and United States, including Joan Robinson at the University of Cambridge, Paul Baran at Stanford University, and Lancelot Hogben at Birmingham to involve them in the recruitment of staff.

Walter Rosenhain

In 1900 he became scientific adviser to Chance Brothers of Birmingham, glass manufacturers and lighthouse engineers, and for the next six years his work was chiefly concerned with the production of optical glass and lighthouse apparatus.

West Midlands bus routes 369 and 370

After deregulation in 1986, all three services were rerouted to serve Stephenson Square, Cavendish Road and Bloxwich Lane, leaving the northern part of Stephenson Road unserved by buses with the exception of a short-lived Midland Red North service, the X1 between Cannock and Birmingham.

William F. Durand

A native of Connecticut, he was a member of the first graduating class of Birmingham High School in Derby, Connecticut (now Derby High School) in 1877.

Wolverton railway station

Denbigh Hall railway station: Pending construction of a bridge over the River Ouse, passengers alighted at Denbigh Hall and transferred to coaches on the London-Birmingham turnpike.