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Manchester and Salford have been home to free thinkers and creators since the cities were founded. Nowhere is that more obvious than when we look back on how many innovations and firsts have been born from these cities.
There are so many that we had to narrow it down to just ten. We’ve pulled together some of our top Mancunian and Salford inventions to give you a taste of inspiration before you book an Inspiration & Innovation Walking Food Tour with us.
At a time when books were the preserve of the universities and the wealthy, the Chetham Library was a first, providing an essential educational resource for Manchester’s future inventors and creators.
Established in 1653 with the legacy of textile merchant Humphrey Cherham, it remains the oldest, still-working public library in the UK and the English-speaking world.
Still welcoming curious readers after over 350 years, Chetham Library is part museum and has a deep archive; definitely one to put on your Manchester wishlist for a tour.
Radical and legendary, two words that are often tied with Manchester, don’t just apply to rock stars.
Born out of Moss Side and delivered to the nation by Manchester’s own Emmeline Pankhurst, who founded the British suffrage movement. The Women’s Social and Political Union advocated for women’s right to vote, changing the face of British politics forever.
Visit Pankhurst’s bronze statue by artist Hazel Reeves in St Peter’s Square on your walking tour for a quick selfie. Or visit her family home, now the Pankhurst Museum on Nelson Street.
Revolutionising cross-country travel, the Bridgewater Canal was the first completely artificial waterway in England. Opened in 1761 and running 39 miles from Runcorn to Leigh, it transported coal cheaply and quickly, linking the area to other waterways and canals.
The canal led to the growth of industry in the north, providing the economic foundation upon which Manchester was built. Today, you can find the canalside in Manchester bustling with cocktail bars, pubs and restaurants to delight every foodie.
Ironically, the first meat-free diet was promoted by Reverend William Cowherd to his congregation at Beefsteak Chapel. He considered it a sin to eat meat of any kind, and his followers became the founders of the Vegetarian Society in 1847.
Whether you subscribe to the Reverend’s views or not, Manchester is home to some great vegetarian and vegan options, some of which you can take in on our Manchester food tours.
Okay, so not every rockstar has Mancunian roots; there was a band from Liverpool who were quite big.
Manchester has been a creative hub for generations of musicians and songwriters; from The Hollies and Joy Division, through James, The Smiths, Oasis and The Stone Roses, to The 1975, and so many more.
They have collectively gifted the world with anthemic songs and touched the souls of music-lovers the world over with their lyrics and riffs.
In a lab at the University of Manchester in the 1910s, Sir Ernest Rutherford managed to create the first artificial nuclear reaction. Although not quite the nuclear fission that we use today to power the national grid, the experiment is known as the birth of nuclear physics.
By working with nitrogen gas and alpha particles, Rutherford discovered that radiation was emitted from the nucleus of the hydrogen atom.
Nightlife was a little different before 1805, when the first gas street lighting illuminated Chapel Street in Salford. It paved the way for safer travelling at night and the boom of nightlife across both cities.
In 1960, Granada Television launched what was to become the nation’s longest running soap opera, Coronation Street. Based loosely on neighbouring Salford, it showed working-class families of the north of England in a way never seen before on television.
Affectionately shortened to ‘Corrie’, the show snuck into the hearts of millions of viewers over decades and is still shown on ITV.
Today, we use computers every day for a myriad of tasks, work, entertainment and communication purposes. But did you know the first storage computer was built in Manchester?
Nicknamed Baby, the computer was the first to run a stored computer programme. Built in 1948 by Tom Kilburn and Freddie Williams at Manchester University, it had what previous computers didn’t have, the ability to use stored information.
The Small Scale Experimental Machine, as it was officially termed, led the way for the laptops and phones we use now.
You might not know what graphene is, but the impact of its invention will be felt worldwide. So much so that it won scientists a Nobel Prize in 2010. Hailed as a ‘miracle’, the material is thought to be the thinnest, strongest material discovered in history.
One layer of carbon atoms deep, scientists from the University of Manchester discovered it by accident when playing around with sticky tape.
Although all the applications for the substance are yet to be uncovered, it has been tried in running shoes, brain implants, electronics, water filtration and aerospace applications.
