1600
1700
1800
1900
2000
2016
The first UK city to be
awarded the prestigious
accolade of European
City of Science
acknowledging Manchester’s
innovative endeavours in
science and technology.
Manchester
A city of firsts
“What Manchester does today – the world does tomorrow”
Benjamin Disraeli, former British Prime Minister
Manchester has long been a city to pave the way with the
wealth of innovations, economy and ideas of society it has
produced over the decades. Manchester’s the birthplace
of the Industrial Revolution and the first stored program
computer. It’s where the atom was split and the world’s
thinnest, strongest and conductive 2D material, graphene
was isolated. Ambition, creativity and pioneering new way
of working are at the core of the city’s DNA.
1653
The UK’s first free
public library built in
Manchester.
1761
The Bridgewater Canal
opened; the first totally
artificial waterway
independent of natural rivers.
1773
The first steamboats
operated on the
Bridgewater Canal.
1783
Richard Arkwright set up
the first mill to use steam
power on Miller Street in
the city centre, paving the
way for mass production
techniques.
1803
John Dalton’s atomic theory
with its pioneering work on the
constitution of elements was the
precursor of all modern chemistry.
1815
Vegetarianism began in the UK,
inspired by the sermons of the
Reverend William Cowherd at the
Salford Bible Christian church.
1824
The first bus route ran
from Market Street in
Manchester to Salford.
1830
The world’s first passenger
railways started operating
from a purpose built station on
Liverpool Road, Manchester.
1844
Manchester was the birth
place of the worldwide
co-operative movement.
1850
The first law in
thermodynamics was
discovered in Manchester
by James Prescott Joule.
1853
John Benjamin Dancer,
working from 43
Cross Street, invented
microphotography
and microfilms.
1858
The Hallé Orchestra
became the first
professional permanent
orchestra, set up by
German conductor
Charles Hallé.
1868
The first general
meeting of the Trade
Union Congress took
place in the Three
Crowns pub in Salford.
1880
The first mechanically
powered submarine was
launched to the designs of
eccentric Hulme curate, the
Reverend George Garrett.
1888
The first professional
football league was
established at the Royal
hotel, Manchester.
1893
The first and only
swing aqueduct in
the world was
built at Barton –
it carries
the Bridgewater
Canal over the
Ship Canal.
1896
The first purpose built industrial
estate was created at Trafford Park.
1903
Suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst founded the
Women’s Social and Political Union in her
home, which still stands on Nelson Street. The
aim of the organisation was to recruit working
class women into the struggle for the vote.
1904
Frederick Royce met Charles
Rolls in the Midland Hotel and
set up the famous company
which bears their names.
1908
The first British plane
was designed and
flown by A V Roe.
1917
Ernest Rutherford
discovered how
to split the atom
at Manchester
University.
1919
Alcock and Brown, both
Manchester Central High
School students, were
the first to fly the Atlantic
Ocean non-stop.
1948
The first computer with
a stored program and
memory, nicknamed
‘baby’, was developed
at Manchester University.
1980
Manchester became
the first British
Nuclear Free City.
2002
The Commonwealth
Games, held in
Manchester, became
the largest
multi-sport event ever
hosted in the UK.
2004
Professors Andre Geim and Kostya
Novoselov isolate graphene, the
world’s first 2D material, at the
University of Manchester.
2005
First 3D printer of human
tissue developed at the
University of Manchester.
2010
Scientists awarded the Nobel Prize for
Physics for their work on Graphene, the
world’s thinnest and most conductive
material, becoming the city’s 24th and
25th Nobel Laureates.
2011
MediaCityUK, Europe’s largest
purpose-built digital and media
hub awarded the status of
the world’s first sustainable
community by BREEAM.
2012
The 2012 Olympics – the
world’s first interactive
tapeless sporting event
– is broadcast from
MediaCityUK.
2015
The National Graphene
Institute opens pioneering
research into the ground-
breaking material.
2017
Sir Henry Royce Institute
for Advanced Materials
- The Royce Institute
will be a world-leading
facility for the discovery
and translation of new
materials and advanced
manufacturing providing
growth to the entire UK
manufacturing base.
2017
Graphene Engeeniring
Innovation Centre -
Together with the NGI,
GEIC will provide an
unrivalled critical mass
of graphene expertise.
The two facilities will
reinforce Manchester’s
position as a globally
leading knowledge-base
in graphene research
and commercialisation.