Rather interesting Coventry facts
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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.
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Famous Coventry people:
Clive Owen
Cyril Connolly
Frank Whittle
John Rastell
Laura Davies
Marlon Devonish
Nigel Hawthorne
Pete Waterman
Philip Larkin
Richard Keys
William Rastell
More famous Britons here
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