We might have so much to answer for, but with a history as rich, vibrant and culturally diverse as Manchester’s, of course, we’re happy to answer for it.
In fact, we think it’s best to shout it from the rooftops.
It’s a near-impossible task to narrow it down to just 20 things, so we’ve decided against assigning numbers to this list and that’s simply because we think each ‘gift’ is important. They’re all equally as impressive as each other and they’re all something to be really bloody proud of – how can we rank that?
So, in no particular order, here are the top 20 things that Manchester has gifted the world.
Madchester was a musical and cultural scene that developed in the late 1980s.
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It saw artists merging alternative rock with elements of acid house, rave music, psychedelia and 1960s pop and was Britain’s defining youth culture, both in terms of sounds and styles and its effects that are still felt today.
The ‘Manchester Baby’, also called the small-scale experimental machine (SSEM), was the first electronic stored-program computer and was built at the University of Manchester by Frederic C. Williams, Tom Kilburn, and Geoff Tootill.
It ran its first program on 21st June 1948.
A working replica of the Manchester Baby is now on display at the Museum of Science and Industry.
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The Suffragettes and Votes for Women
Credit: Wikimedia Commons
Emmeline Pankhurst was born in Moss Side in 1858.
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The leader of the Suffragettes, she founded the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU) – a women-only movement – in 1903 and tirelessly campaigned to deliver the right for women to vote.
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The Splitting of the Atom
Manchester is the birthplace of nuclear physics.
Ernest Rutherford changed the world when he split the atom at The University of Manchester in 1917.
This significant scientific breakthrough resulted in the development of nuclear power and cancer-fighting radiotherapy.
He was the owner of Factory Records, a journalist, a radio and television presenter, and of course, the founder and manager of the Haçienda nightclub. Dubbed as ‘Mr Manchester’, the music mogul was behind some of Manchester’s most successful bands and is known for fiercely promoting the culture of the city throughout his career.
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The English library
Credit: Wikimedia Commons
Chetham’s Library is the oldest English-speaking public library in the world and has been in continuous use since it was founded in 1653.
The library holds more than 100,000 volumes of printed books, 60,000 of which were published before 1851.
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Socialism
Wikipedia
Karl Marx and Frederick Engels first met in Manchester at Chetham’s Library in 1842.
The research they undertook during their visits to the library ultimately led to their work on the Communist Manifesto, which briefly features their ideas for how the capitalist society of the time would eventually be replaced by socialism.
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The Communist Manifesto was registered to UNESCO’s ‘Memory of the World Programme’ in 2013.
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The NHS
Flickr
The National Health Service (NHS) was founded by Anuerin Bevan in 1948.
It was born out of the ideal that good healthcare should be available to all, regardless of wealth, position or social class. Park Hospital in Davyhulme, Manchester – now Trafford General Hospital – is known as “the birthplace of the NHS”.
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Vegetarianism
Pixabay
The Vegetarian Society’s first full public meeting was held in Manchester in 1848.
The society made publications available on the topic, sometimes accompanied by lectures, and by 1853, it already had 889 members.
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Rolls Royce
Wikimedia Commons
Henry Royce started an electrical and mechanical business in 1884 and made his first car, a two-cylinder Royce 10, in his Manchester factory in 1904.
Royce was also introduced to Charles Rolls at the Midland Hotel during that very same year.
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The rest is history.
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Canals
David Dixon / Geograph
The Bridgewater Canal opened in 1761.
The 3rd Duke of Bridgewater, who owned a number of coal mines in Northern England, wanted a reliable way to transport his coal to the rapidly industrialising city of Manchester and so, the first major British canal was born.
It has also been argued to be the first true canal of the Industrial Revolution in England.
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Marks & Spencer
Manchester History
Marks & Spencer was founded by Michael Marks and Thomas Spencer as a market stall in Leeds, originally named Penny Bazaar, but the pair moved to Cheetham Hill Road in Manchester and also opened market stalls in many locations around the North West.
The first Marks & Spencer store opened on Stretford Road, Hulme in 1894.
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The Railway
Wikipedia
Manchester gave birth to the world’s first inter-city railway line which opened in 1830.
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It was also the first railway to rely exclusively on steam power, the first to be entirely double track throughout its length, the first to have a signalling system, the first to be fully timetabled, and the first to carry mail.
Manchester Victoria Station is also one of the world’s oldest continuously operating stations and still remains the second largest train station in the UK.
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Submarines
Wikimedia Commons
Inventor George Garrett, born and raised in Moss Side, founded the Submarine Navigation and Pneumataphore Company and his vessel, Resurgam, which was the first ever military submarine.
It was devised in his office on Deansgate, in the heart of the city centre, in 1878.
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The Guardian
Wikimedia Commons
The Guardian, or rather The Manchester Guardian, was founded in 1821.
It was founded in Manchester by cotton merchant John Edward Taylor, with backing from a group of non-conformist businessmen and was launched after the police closure of the more radical Manchester Observer – a paper that had championed the cause of the Peterloo Massacre protesters.
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Graphene
Pxfuel
Graphene is the world’s thinnest substance.
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It’s about 100 times stronger than the strongest steel, yet its density is dramatically lower than any steel substance. It conducts heat and electricity very efficiently, and is nearly transparent.
Scientists have theorised about Graphene for decades, but the material was later rediscovered, isolated and characterised by Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov at the University of Manchester in 2004.
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The Textile Industry
Wikimedia Commons
Manchester was the beating heart of the Industrial Revolution.
The Industrial Revolution changed everything and shaped European history during the 19th/early 20th century. Manchester, dubbed ‘Cottonopolis’, provided a pattern for the development of the industrial city, was once the international centre of the world’s cotton industry and imported up to a billion tonnes of raw cotton per year.
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The ‘Sixth’ Day
“…And on the sixth day, God created MANchester”
Pinterest / Florian Forster
Leo Stanley, owner of clothes brand ‘Identity’ in Afflecks Palace, said: “One night after the Haçienda I couldn’t sleep, so I picked up the Bible and read ‘On the sixth day, God created Man.’ and wrote down in my Filofax ‘On the sixth day, God created Manchester.”
“That t-shirt went mental – we couldn’t print them fast enough.”
“Someone sent me a photograph from a French magazine of Jean-Paul Gaultier and Madonna at a party, both wearing ‘On the Sixth Day’ T-shirts.”
A mosaic featuring the phrase by local artist Mark Kennedy sits on the outside wall next to the entrance of Afflecks Palace and has become a popular tourist attraction to those visiting the city centre.
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So, there you have it – 20 things that Manchester has gifted the world.
World, you’re welcome.
Featured Images – Wikimedia Commons
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New Lancashire Cricket investors aiming to make Manchester Originals as big as United and City
Danny Jones
Lancashire County Cricket’s new investors and Manchester Originals’ majority owners have stated their desire to make the local Hundred team as big as Man United and City.
The Originals were courted by the RPSG (Rising Pune Supergiant) Group this month, with the Goenka family agreeing to buy up a 70% share of the club after LCCC sold part of their stake in the franchise.
Famously in charge of the Lucknow Super Giants over in the Indian Premier League and their Durban equivalents in South Africa, the possibility of not just a shiny new kit but the Originals being renamed the ‘Manchester Super Giants’ isn’t out of the question, though it would be much further down the line.
Although the conglomerate was initially interested in one of The Hundred’s Southern teams, London Spirit – and they were quizzed on this in a press conference on Friday, 14 February – Vice Chairman Shaswat Goenka’s answer was simple: “Lords is Lords but Manchester is Manchester.”
Expressing a huge amount of respect and admiration for the city’s competitive history, even dubbing it a “sporting powerhouse”, Goenka began by insisting that the opportunity presented is one to build a perfect marriage of culture and a love for cricket.
Going on to identify sport as “one of the single biggest things that unites people across the world, regardless of race, colour” and so forth, he believes that while this is categorically not football, this new chapter could rival its prominence here in the UK and especially Manchester.
From there, he went so far as to argue that the stopping power is there and that RPSG “want the Manchester franchise in the Hundred to become the third biggest sports team in Manchester and challenge those two sports teams [Man City and Man United] in Manchester.”
Quite the statement indeed – but one that was echoed by his two new key collaborators in Lancashire’s CEO, Dan Gidney, and Manchester Originals Chair, James Sheridan.
Gidney in particular was visibly energised by the prospect, reflecting on the moment he realised a great potential after seeing the fanaticism shown by the crowd during India vs Pakistan at Emirates Old Trafford for the 2019 Cricket World Cup.
Even with new leadership, Lancashire Cricket will remain 30% owners of the Manchester Originals. (Credit: The Manc Group/Matt Eachus)
Waxing lyrical about seeing “just how much supporters celebrate a single game of cricket”, he said the goal is to “inject some of that passion into Manchester and LCC“.
Doubling down on Goenka’s statement, he continued: “We’re a bit conservative in the UK, we need to embrace the power of this sport; the fandom is off the scale – [it could be] stronger than the Premier League, in my opinion.”
All three executive speakers were also keen to reiterate that is by no means a complete takeover but rather a “joint venture” aiming to achieve a “true partnership” which could pose even more exciting cross-pollination in the future.
The consensus seems to be that further collaboration with the Super Giants is pretty inevitable and not just in regards to the men’s game but that this merging of brands presents a huge opportunity for young players and the women’s team too, the idea of players spending more time over in India and even some games perhaps being held still sounding very plausible.
Manchester Originals’ Chair, James Sheridan, did caveat the discussion by noting that “contracting isn’t straightforward in franchise cricket” but that conversations have at least started to take place” and, like Goenka, they don’t see this as a gamble but what is bound to be a “formidable partnership.”
He also reiterated the belief that Manchester is “probably the UK’s No 1 sporting city, adding “There you go, I said it”, and that the vision is to build the best team, the biggest fan base and the best culture – with this particular region being the perfect staging ground to do so.
The Manchester Originals Chair and LCCC Chief Exec welcome the incoming co-owners. (Credit: Supplied)
Two players were present for the press conference as well, with Originals Women’s star Beth Mooney saying she had “admired The Hundred for afar” since it started and quickly knew she “100% wanted to be a part of it”, aiming to “help create a legacy with the Originals as the tournament.”
Men’s player Phil Salt welcomed the new ownership as the start of an “extremely exciting new era” that should help them “bring the best product to the UK”, reiterating that “being part of the right organisation is key.”
Although the investment is yet to be fully ratified by the ECB (England and Wales Cricket Board) and Lancashire made no bones about the arrears they still have on the books, Gidney was keen to label a lot of as ‘good debt’ and an investment in facilities and infrastructure, something which RPSG will only further aid.
One of the biggest outlays even prior to the new co-owners is the ongoing Farrington project but since the wider county region may have struggled to cheer on a Manchester team, the Originals and Lancashire, more importantly, will no doubt benefit from its completion.
The new sister stadium will be based over in Preston, offering a second home for what is crucially a Lancashire club. (Credit: Supplied)
Featured Images — Matt Eachus (supplied via Lancashire County Cricket Club)
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Free roses are being handed out at a Manchester train station this Valentine’s Day
Danny Jones
In an effort to spread the love this Valentine’s Day, free roses are being hands out to commuters at a Manchester train station this week.
Add that to the ever-growing list of why we absolutely adore this place.
Not everyone is coupled up come the most mush day of the year, nor do they need to be – self-love, Galentine’s and even just a whoelsome pint or two with the boys – but it’s nice to see Greater Mancs going out of their way to make things nicer for each other.
In our eyes, in a relationship or otherwise, this day is just about sharing the love with everyone and if you happen to arriving or leaving Manchester (excuse me, why would you ever?) from Victoria station this Friday, you could be in for a lovely little surprise.
The brains behind the touching little gesture is the city’s legendary live music and entertainment space, AO Arena.
Although many arrive at the venue via the Trinity Way Tunnel on the other side of Arena, the AO is already directly attached to Victoria by a simply set of stairs, meaning you can arrive in the city centre via train or tram and arrive directly at your destination.
It’s also one of the busiest stations in the North West, so for commuters looking to start the day with a little love, whether that be to treat their significant other, brighten a colleague’s day or just make themselves feel good, these roses are set to be handed out on Valentine’s Day morning.
100 of the most romantic flowers will be up for grabs from 8am at Manchester Victoria Station on a first-come, first served basis, naturally, Simple as that – but it gets better…
There is also an exciting chance to win a handful of surprises, including free tickets to a show at the arena, which will be given away with a select few lucky roses.
This year marks an extra special milestone for the AO Arena, as they are celebrating thirty years of spreading joy in the city as Manchester’s longest standing large music venue.
With that in mind and tying together the arena’s history and love for entertainment, each rose will be individually wrapped in a special 30th birthday edition print.
This design features the names of all artists and acts who have performed there over the last three decades; consider it just a small token of AO‘s love and affection for 0161, wrapped in nostalgia.
Happy Valentine’s Day, Manchester – you’ll always be ours x
Emily Sergeant -
4th November 2021 
