Interesting Merseyside facts
Famous Sussex People
Birkenhead
Did you know that the first true municipal park in the world was created in Birkenhead? In 1843 Joseph Paxton , already famous for his work at Chatsworth House , and who would go on to design the Crystal Palace for the Great Exhibition , was the man given the task of laying out the new space. Of course plenty of parks existed prior to this, but Birkenhead Park was financed by the town itself. Its design inspired and informed New York’s Central Park.
Liverpool
Did you know that John Lennon was born during an air raid on Liverpool on October 9 1940? He came into the world at Oxford Street Maternity Hospital in the city.
Did you know that the bells in Liverpool Cathedral are the heaviest in the world? There are 13 bells which can be rung conventionally, which weigh in at a total of 17 tonnes (the lightest 0.51 tonnes, heaviest 4.06 tonnes) plus Great George, a monster at 15 tonnes and 2.9m diameter, larger than Big Ben. Great George has to be rung with a hammer.
Southport
Did you know that Napoleon III’s stay in Southport between 1846 and 1848 is supposed to have influenced his later rebuilding of Paris assisted by Haussmann? He lived on the elegant and very wide Lord Street in the Lancashire seaside town, a huge contrast with the cramped medieval streets of Paris in the mid-19th century; those narrow streets rather easier for potential opponents of the Emperor to barricade than the boulevards that replaced them.
St Helens
Did you know that in 1859 Beecham’s opened their first medicine factory in St Helens? The founder of the Beecham empire, Thomas, was born in Oxfordshire and started his working life as a shepherd, but dabbled in rustic medicines and eventually became a chemist: his first success was with laxatives, proving where there’s muck there’s brass.
Famous Merseyside people
A J P Taylor | Adrian Henri | Alan Bleasdale | Alexei Sayle | Alison Steadman | Andy Burnham | Arthur Askey | Arthur Clough | Augustine Birrell | Austin Healey | Beryl Bainbridge | Bill Kenwright | Bill Tidy | Brian Epstein | Brian Patten | Carol Decker | Charles Booth | Charles Santley | Chris Boardman | Cilla Black | Claire Sweeney | Coleen McLoughlin | Colin Welland | Craig Charles | Daniel Purvis | Eleanor Rathbone | Ernest Newman | Felicia Hemans | Frank Hornby | Frankie Vaughan | Freddie Starr | Frederick Birkenhead | Frederick Woolton | George Harrison | George Melly | George Stubbs | Glenda Jackson | Holbrook Jackson | Hugh Huxley | Ian Botham | Jack Rodwell | James Laver | Jean Alexander | Jeremiah Horrocks | Jim Slater | Jimmy Tarbuck | Joey Barton | John Birt | John Bishop | John Brunner | John Culshaw | John Kemble | John Lennon | John Lewis | John McGrath | John Milne | John Parrott | John Peel | John Rylands | John Selwyn Brooke Lloyd | Johnny Vegas | Katarina Johnson-Thompson | Keith Chegwin | Ken Dodd | Kenny Everett | Krishnan Guru-Murthy | Leon Goossens | Leonard Rossiter | Les Dennis | Liz McClarnon | Malcolm Lowry | Matt Dawson | Maud Royden | Mel C | Melanie C | Miranda Richardson | Norman Vaughan | Patricia Routledge | Paul McCartney | Paul O'Grady | Peter Charles | Peter Serafinowicz | Peter Shaffer | Peter Shore | Rex Harrison | Richard Glazebrook | Richard Le Gallienne | Rick Astley | Ringo Starr | Robert Runcie | Roger McGough | Sebastian de Ferranti | Shirley Hughes | Simon Rattle | Stan Boardman | Steven Gerrard | Steven Norris | Thomas Beecham | Tom Baker | Tommy Handley | W E Gladstone | Walter McLennan Citrine | Wayne Rooney | William Collingwood | William Jevons | William Rodgers | Willy Russell |
Read visitor reports on this areaBrit Quote: |
|
On this day: |