From ground-breaking inventions to gory massacres, the streets of Manchester have seen more than a thing or two.

In fact, the very ground that House of Social is built on has a river flowing underneath it. Who would’ve thought, eh?

But the “I never knew that” facts don’t stop there.

Read on to discover more things you probably didn’t know about your secret-keeping university city.

Karl Marx was heavily influenced by Manchester

You don’t need to be a philosophy buff to be impressed by this one.

Karl Marx, the revolutionist brains behind communism, spent a lot of time in Manchester visiting friend and fellow sociologist, Friedrich Engels. During their time together up north, Marx and Engels would frequent Chetham’s Library (the oldest library in England) to read and study.

In fact, the very desk they used to work on is still in the library’s reading room. Their felt tips and post-it notes are long gone, though.

Whilst it is widely agreed that The Communist Manifesto wasn’t written in Manchester, it’s safe to say that Manchester’s working class identity influenced the pamphlet’s conceptualisation.

The birthplace of Vegetarianism

What if we told you that vegetarianism started in a church… named the Beefsteak Chapel?

Nope, we’re actually not joking.

Back in 1763, Reverend William Cowherd founded the world’s first-ever modern Vegetarian Society. Spurred on by a hatred of ham, Cowherd believed that God felt the pain of every slaughtered animal and that it was an unforgivable sin to eat meat.

This burning, bean-fuelled passion led him to implement a strict no-meat diet across his church. Word spread with each carrot consumed, and by the end of the 19th century, vegetarianism was a widely accepted diet across the country.

Maybe Cowherd was the inspiration behind Mancunian music legends The Smiths’ 1985 album, ‘Meat Is Murder’?

The ‘Man’ in Manchester was originally ‘Mam’

We couldn’t not include a silly one.

According to historians, Manchester was originally called either ‘Mamicum’ or ‘Mamchester’. Both of which translate to the ‘place of the breast-shaped hill’.

Derived from Celtic language, ‘Mam’ refers to mammary glands. ‘Chester’ is the Roman word for ‘town’. Put the two together, and you’ve got yourself an assortment of words that makes even the maturest of adults chuckle.

As the Roman Empire fell and language evolved, ‘Mamchester’ changed to become the Manchester that we know today. Maybe we should bring it back, though?

Trafford Hospital is the birthplace of the NHS

Here’s one that even a lot of locals don’t know.

Trafford Hospital became England’s first NHS hospital in 1948, opened by Welsh miner-turned MP, Aneurin Bevan. Before this time, healthcare in the UK was strongly politicised and reserved mainly for those of high status. “Ordinary” working class people could only access healthcare by paying through-the-teeth privately or through a charity.

A prince of the people, Bevan dedicated years of his life to campaigning for greater accessibility. His controversial work would go on to shape a huge part of Britain’s national identity, and a system that the country continues to celebrate today.

Fun fact: the very first patient to be treated by the NHS was Sylvia Diggor, a 13 year old girl.

The city that brewed up Vimto

You’re not a true Manc until you’ve tried Vimto. Especially with a chippy tea.

The story of Vimto started in Manchester back in 1908, created by pharmacist John Noel Nichols. The beverage went on to become a global sensation, and is even synonymous with the holy month of the Ramadan.

Haven’t tried Vimto yet? It’s a delicious blend of grapes, blackcurrants, blueberries and a lot of sugar. All the good stuff, basically.

Fun fact: Vimto is sold in 73 countries. Not bad for a northern homebrew.

Graphene was discovered in Manchester

Who would’ve thought that the strongest substance ever discovered was found in Manchester by accident?

Professor Konstantin Novoselvo and Professor Andre Geim discovered graphene by playing around with sticky tape during one of their weekly ‘Friday night experiments’. This discovery would see the duo go on to win a Nobel Prize in Physics.

Fun fact: Graphene is the world’s first two-dimensional material that’s stronger than steel.

Even funner fact: Graphene is found on the tip of a pencil.

A day out for the Devil

Here’s a spooky one…

It’s believed that Satan has visited Manchester. Yep, Beelzebub himself has vacationed from the fiery pits to the darkened corners of Chetham’s Library. What is believed to be his ‘hoof print’ is still visible on one of the library’s tables (not Marx and Engels’ though, luckily).

Legend has it that John Dee, known as ‘Doctor Dee’, summoned the Prince of Darkness during his time living and working at Chetham School.

Born in 1527, Dee was quite the character. A Jack of all trades – an Elizabethan mathematician, magician, alchemist, the appointed royal astrologer for Mary Tudor and the ‘Royal Advisor in Mystic Secrets’ for Queen Elizabeth I. Try and name a longer CV.

During his time at Chetham School, Dee was enlisted to perform an exorcism on The Lancashire Seven, a household believed to have been demonically possessed during the late 1500s. From this, his obsession with summoning evil oddities began.

Dee’s story is truly unlike any other.

Fun fact: Dee used to sign his letters off to Queen Elizabeth I with the pen name ‘007’. This was later adopted by Ian Fleming for his first James Bond novel, ‘Casino Royale’, released in 1953. Pretty cool, that.

A huge massacre happened in St Peter’s Square

The 16th of August in 1819 is a day that Manchester will remember forever.

In Peter’s Fields, now known as St Peter’s Square, violence erupted between 60,000 pro-democracy and anti-poverty protestors. This barbaric event is now referred to as The Peterloo Massacre – a horrific event that saw 18 people killed and over 700 severely injured.

The Peterloo Massacre occurred during a time of political unrest and rising tensions between socio-economic classes. In fact, only 2% of the UK population at the time of the event had the power to vote. Thousands of households across the country, particularly in the north of England, were on the brink of starvation.

Despite the violence, The Peterloo Massacre played a huge role in supporting working class rights, and led to the rise of Trade Unions and the Chartist Movement.

Home to the first modern computer

Who would’ve thought one of the greatest modern inventions came from such humble beginnings?

The world’s first-ever stored-program computer, nicknamed ‘Baby’, was brought to life in Manchester.

After World War II, scientist Sir Freddie Williams and his team relocated to our great Northern city. Williams was appointed as the head of the Electrical Engineering Department, which would then spark his idea for Baby.

Amazingly, it only took Williams and his team half a year to build the computer, back in 1948.

Fun fact: you can see Baby in Manchester’s Science and Industry Museum.

Manchester has a mummy

No, we’re not talking about a woman who has borne children. We’re talking about an actual Egyptian mummy from thousands of years ago.

The mummy of Asru, a high status female Egyptian, has been stored in freezing temperatures inside The Manchester Museum for hundreds of years.

Despite dying around 700 BCE, 2012 researchers found that Asru’s internal organs were still intact, unheard of for mummies. They also discovered that Asru had a mouthful of cavities and suffered badly with arthritis.

Even Egypt’s aristocrats aren’t immune from toothaches.

Fun fact: you can visit Asru today at Manchester Museum.