The city of Birmingham, in England, is an important manufacturing and engineering centre, employing over 100,000 people in the industry and contributing billions to the national economy. Over 25% of UK exports originate in the greater Birmingham area. A city is an urban area, differentiated from a town, village, or hamlet by size, population density, importance, or legal status. ... The city from above Centenary Square. ... Royal motto: Dieu et mon droit (French: God and my right) Englands location within the UK Official language English de facto Capital London de facto Largest city London Area  - Total Ranked 1st UK 130,395 km² Population  - Total (2001)  - Density Ranked 1st UK 49,138,831 377/km² Religion... Manufacturing is the transformation of raw materials into finished goods for sale, or intermediate processes involving the production or finishing of semi-manufactures. ... Engineering is the application of science to the needs of humanity. ...

16th to 18th Century

John Leland visited Birmingham in about 1538, and found many smiths manufacturing knives and nails among other products. By 1683, there were 202 forges in the town (mainly in the Digbeth and Deritend areas), and guns and brass goods were also being made. Metal was not made to any great extent in the town itself at this stage, but was mainly imported from Staffordshire and elsewhere in the West Midlands. Immigration to the city from the surrounding counties brought expansion of these industries. The population of the city increased from 5-7,000 in 1700 to nearly 24,000 in 1750, and by 1775 the population was about 40,000, making Birmingham the third largest town in the UK after London and Bristol. In 1791, Arthur Young described Birmingham as "the first manufacturing town in the world". John Leland (September 13, 1502–April 18, 1552) was an English antiquary. ... Events Treaty of Nagyvarad. ... Events June 6 - The Ashmolean Museum opens as the worlds first university museum. ... Digbeth is an area of Birmingham, England. ... Staffordshire (abbreviated Staffs) is a landlocked county in the Midlands of England. ... The West Midlands refers to western area of The Midlands (central England). ... Events January 1 - Russia accepts Julian calendar. ... Events March 2 - Small earthquake in London April 4 - Small earthquake in Warrington, England August 23 - Small earthquake in Spalding, England September 30 - Small earthquake in Northampton, England November 16 – Westminster Bridge officially opened Jonas Hanway is the first Englishman to use an umbrella James Gray reveals her sex to... The Clock Tower of the Palace of Westminster which contains Big Ben Tower Bridge at night A red double-decker bus crosses Piccadilly Circus. ... Bristol is an English city and county and one of the two administrative centres of South West England (the other being Plymouth). ... 1791 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... Arthur Young (September 11, 1741 - April 20, 1820) was an English writer on agriculture, economics and social statistics. ...

By 1759 a House of Commons committee heard that at least 20,000 people in Birmingham and the surrounding area were employed in the "toy trade", manufacturing buttons, buckles and other trinkets, with the trade being worth around £600,000 per annum (five-sixths of it for export). Matthew Boulton, in 1770, claimed that Birmingham's superiority as a manufacturing town was largely due to the "superactivity" of the people, and the "mechanical contrivances and extensive apparatus which we are possess'd of". The use of hand-operated machinery and division of labour (which might see a button pass through fifty hands in the course of manufacture) was commented on by many visitors to Birmingham. Children were often employed in this sort of labour, their work being made easier by machines. 1759 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... In some bicameral parliaments of a Westminster System, the House of Commons has historically been the name of the elected lower house. ... Matthew Boulton. ... 1770 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ...

In 1767, there were 35 gun-makers, and 27 manufacturers of other gun parts. The firm of Farmer and Galton supplied most of the weaponry to the Company of Merchants in Africa (i.e. the African slave trade). Pins, jewellery and papier-mache were also produced in large quantities in the city, and goods of all sorts were exported to North America and Europe (Boulton, in the same year, claimed that half his correspondence was in German). 1767 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... Africa is the worlds second-largest continent in both area and population, after Asia. ... This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... World map showing location of North America A satellite composite image of North America North America is the third largest continent in area and fourth in population after Asia and Africa in area and population and Europe in population. ... A satellite composite image of Europe Europe is geologically and geographically a peninsula, forming the westernmost part of Eurasia. ...

The first cargo was transported on the Birmingham Canal in 1770, and the canal greatly reduced the price of goods such as coal which had previously been transported by road. The canal system was extended throughout the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Expansion during this period was also aided by the establishment of several banks - the button manufacturer John Taylor and the ironmaster Sampson Lloyd II established what was later to become Lloyds Bank in 1765, opening a branch in London in 1770. The Canal du Midi in Toulouse, France Canals are man-made waterways, usually connecting existing lakes, rivers, or oceans. ... 1770 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... Lloyds TSB Group plc is a group of financial services companies, based in the United Kingdom, with the registered office in Edinburgh, Scotland. ... 1765 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... The Clock Tower of the Palace of Westminster which contains Big Ben Tower Bridge at night A red double-decker bus crosses Piccadilly Circus. ... 1770 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ...

Despite the establishment of several large manufacturers (for example Boulton and Fothergill's famous works at Soho), most of the city's manufacturing was done in small family workshops. Payment was usually by piece-work, and workers could therefore decide when they wanted to work - it was usual for "Saint Monday" to be a day of rest in addition to the weekend, with long hours being worked later on to compensate, and employers had very little control over the working hours of their employees. The Soho Manufactory was an early factory, opening in Soho, Birmingham, England by Matthew Boulton in 1761. ...

The long-established industrial processes in the city meant that it was actually quite late in adopting the methods of the Industrial Revolution - manufacturing was so efficient and workshops so small that the steam engine, developed in Birmingham by Boulton and James Watt around 1770, did not find widespread use in the city for another sixty years (in 1815, there were only about forty steam engines in the town, many very small). However, steam power and improvements in iron manufacturing processes were important in the development of the nearby Black Country, which by the end of the 18th century supplied much of the metal needed by Birmingham's manufacturing industries. The Industrial Revolution was the major social, economic and technological change in the late 18th and early 19th century. ... A steam engine needs a boiler to boil water to produce steam under pressure. ... This article is about the Scottish engineer and inventor. ... 1770 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... 1815 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... The Black Country is an area of conurbation to the north and west of Birmingham, and to the south and east of Wolverhampton in the English West Midlands, around the South Staffordshire coal field. ...

Modern times

The city's products include: motor vehicles, vehicle components and accessories, weapons, electrical equipment, plastics, machine tools, chemicals, food, jewellery and glass. Birmingham is home to two major car factories, MG Rover in Longbridge and Jaguar in Castle Bromwich (and Land Rovers are manufactured in neighbouring Solihull). The bayonet, still used in war as both knife and spearpoint. ... The term plastics covers a range of synthetic or semi-synthetic polymerization products. ... A machine tool is a powered mechanical device, typically used to fabricate metal components of machines by the selective removal of metal. ... A chemical substance is any material substance used in or obtained by a process in chemistry: A chemical compound is a substance consisting of two or more chemical elements that are chemically combined in fixed proportions. ... Jewellery (spelled jewelry in American English) consists of ornamental devices worn by persons, typically made with gems and precious metals. ... The materials definition of a glass is a uniform amorphous solid material, usually produced when a suitably viscous molten material cools very rapidly, thereby not giving enough time for a regular crystal lattice to form. ... MG Rover are the largest independent manufacturer of cars in the British motor industry. ... The Longbridge Plant from the Air, 2005. ... Jaguar Cars is a British automobile manufacturer. ... Castle Bromwich is a suburb of Solihull, in the English West Midlands. ... Land Rover was the name of one of the first British civilian all-terrain utility vehicles, first produced by Rover in 1947. ... Map sources for Solihull at grid reference SP1579 Solihull High Street Solihull (IPA: , or , or some combination of the two; occasionally ) is a town in the West Midlands in England with a population of around 120,000. ...

The Jewellery Quarter is the largest concentration of dedicated jewellers in Europe. One third of the jewellery manufactured in the UK is made within one mile of Birmingham city centre. Until 2003, coins for circulation were manufactured in the Jewellery Quarter at the Birmingham Mint, the oldest independent mint in the world, which continues to produce commemorative coins and medals. The Jewellery Quarter is situated in the Hockley area of Birmingham England. ... 1¢ euro coin A coin is generally a piece of hard material, generally metal and usually in the shape of a disc, which is used as a form of money. ... The Birmingham Mint in Birmingham, England was established in 1794 in Slaney Street by Ralph Heaton I, using second-hand coin presses bought from the estate of Matthew Boulton. ... Commemorative coins are legally issued coins with a denomination that are not usually meant for circulation. ... A Medal can mean three things: a wearable medal awarded by a government for services to a country (such as Armed force service); strictly speaking this only refers to a medal of coin-like appearance, but informally the word also refers to an Order (decoration); a table medal awarded by...

As with most of the British economy, manufacturing in Birmingham has declined in importance since the 1970s, and it now employs a minority of the workforce. In recent years Birmingham's economy has diversified into service industries, retailing and tourism, which are now the main employers in the city. Scientific research including research into the controversial nano technology at the University of Birmingham, is expanding in the city and will possibly play a part in the city's economic future. More details about the Birmingham economy. This article provides extensive lists of events and significant personalities of the 1970s. ... The tertiary sector of industry, also called the service sector or the service industry, is one of the three main industrial categories of a developed economy, the others being the secondary industry (manufacturing and primary goods production such as agriculture), and primary industry (extraction such as mining and fishing). ... In commerce, a retailer buys goods or products in large quantities from manufacturers or importers, either directly or through a wholesaler, and then sells individual items or small quantities to the general public or end user customers, usually in a shop, also called store. ... A tourist boat travels the River Seine in Paris, France Tourism can be defined as the act of travel for the purpose of recreation, and the provision of services for this act. ... A mite next to a gear chain produced using nanotechnology Nanotechnology as a collective term refers to technological developments on the nanometer scale, usually 0. ... The University of Birmingham is the oldest of three universities in the English city of Birmingham. ...

Over 500 law firms exist in the city and Birmingham is Europe's second largest insurance market. The city attracts over 40% of the UK's total conference trade. Two of Britain's "big four" banks were founded in Birmingham. Lloyds Bank (now Lloyds TSB) began here in 1765 and The Midland Bank (now part of HSBC) opened in Union Street, in August 1836. A law firm is a business entity formed by one or more lawyers to engage in the practice of law. ... A satellite composite image of Europe Europe is geologically and geographically a peninsula, forming the westernmost part of Eurasia. ... Insurance, in law and economics, is a form of risk management primarily used to hedge against the risk of potential financial loss. ... The term conference can be used to describe any meeting of people that confer about a certain topic. ... The phrase Big Four has multiple meanings: Big Four can refer to: The Big Four auditors, the four largest international public accountancy firms. ... Lloyds TSB Group plc is a group of financial services companies, based in the United Kingdom, with the registered office in Edinburgh, Scotland. ... The Midland Bank (now part of HSBC) opened in Union Street, Birmingham, England in August 1836. ... HSBC - Wikipedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ...

Historically, the Industrial Revolution flourished in Birmingham and the surrounding Midlands towns, allowing many factories, foundries and businesses to prosper in the Gun Quarter and Jewellery Quarter, with watchmakers, goldsmiths, attorneys, physicians, surgeons, Breweries, apothecaries, metallurgists, chemists, Bicycle and Automobile manufacturers also prospering. The city's workmen designed and constructed railway carriages, steam engines, and even - unusually for somewhere so far from the sea - ships, which were made as pre-fabricated sections, then assembled at the coast. The Industrial Revolution was the major social, economic and technological change in the late 18th and early 19th century. ... The midlands of a territory are its central regions. ... The Gun Quarter is the name given to an area of the city of Birmingham, in England, traditionally (and still) associated with the manufacture of firearms and sporting guns. ... The Jewellery Quarter is situated in the Hockley area of Birmingham England. ... A watchmaker is one who primarily repairs watches, although historically this person also made watches. ... A goldsmith creating a new ring A goldsmith is a metalworker who specializes in working with precious metals, usually to make jewellery. ... An attorney is someone who represents someone else in the transaction of business: For attorney-at-law, see lawyer, solicitor, barrister or civil law notary. ... A physician is a person who practices medicine. ... Surgery Surgery is the medical specialty that treats diseases or injuries by operative manual and instrumental treatment. ... A brewery is a facility that produces beer. ... Apothecary (from the Latin apothecarius, a keeper of an otheca, a store) is a historical name for a medical practitioner who formulates and dispenses materia medica to physicians, surgeons and patients — a role now served by a pharmacist. ... Metallurgy is a domain of materials science and of materials engineering that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements and their mixtures, which are called alloys. ... A chemist is a scientist who specializes in chemistry. ... This racing bicycle is built using lightweight, shaped aluminum tubing and carbon fiber stays and forks. ... A small variety of cars, the most popular kind of automobile. ... Tourists in a vis-a-vis, Prague The classic definition of a carriage is a four-wheeled horse-drawn private passenger vehicle with leaf springs or leather strapping for suspension, whether light, smart and fast or large and comfortable. ... A steam engine is a heat engine that makes use of the potential energy that exists as pressure in steam, converting it to mechanical work. ... For online phenomenon of shipping, see Shipping (fandom). ...

Numerous inventors emerged from these different professions, and the city's skilled workforce and infrastructure encouraged other inventors and businessmen from across the world to set up shop in the city. (See Inventors and Inventions). The city from above Centenary Square. ...

Famous brands from the "city of a thousand trades" include Bird's Custard, Typhoo Tea, the Birmingham Wire Gauge, Brylcreem, Chad Valley Toys, BSA, Bakelite, Cadburys chocolate, HP Sauce and the MG Rover Group. During the Industrial Revolution, Birmingham England was known as the city of a thousand trades, or Workshop of the World, manufacturing everything from pins to motorcars. ... Alfred Bird registered as a pharmacist in Birmingham in 1842, having served an apprenticeship to Phillip Harris of that city. ... The Typhoo tea brand was launched in 1903 by William Sumner of Birmingham, England after his sister Mary had tried some of his tea which he recommended to her for indigestion, the brew was later to become one of the UKs most popular tea brands. ... A wire is a single, usually cylindrical, elongated strand of drawn metal. ... Brylcreem (pronounced brill-cream) is a brand name pomade, the precursor to todays hair gel. ... Chad Valley is a long-established brand of toys in the United Kingdom. ... The Birmingham Small Arms Company (BSA) was a British manufacturer of military equipment and vehicles. ... While commonly referred to as Bakelite, the correct generic designation is phenolics. ... Cadbury-Schweppes plc (Cadbury Trebor Bassett) is a chocolate and beverage company with its headquarters in London, UK. Jacob Schweppe developed a method to make mineral water in Switzerland in 1783. ... The HP Sauce logo HP Sauce is a condiment, a popular brown sauce produced in Aston, Birmingham, England. ... MG Rover was the largest independent manufacturer of cars in the British motor industry. ...