John 
We extend our warmest welcome to our dear readers. We are very excited to bring you this blog dedicated to the beauty of the city of Birmingham. We want to tell you all about it and all about the lovely places it hides. We wanted to start with a brief history of the city, so sit back and enjoy!
History of Birmingham
You might know that Birmingham is the second biggest city in the United Kingdom, but did you know it has been inhabited for 10,000 years? Indeed, there is evidence to support this claim in the form of artefacts such as burnt mounds that can still be observed in the city, and we suggest you pay them a visit.
Another cool fact is that Birmingham got its name from the Old English “Beormingahām”, meaning the home of the Beormingas, perhaps an early Anglo-Saxon clan. By 1116, there was a family with the name Birmingham and one of its members, Peter de Birmingham, was allowed to hold a market in his castle, which inadvertently led to the creation of the city.
By the next century, the population grew exponentially and Birmingham became a medieval urban centre. Once iron was discovered in the 16th century, the area saw great prosperity. Around that industry, finance also emerged. Birmingham merchants extended their trade as far as the Americas and they were basically serving a global market in the 1600’s.
Due to the unique form of local government, which lacked the strong feudal relations seen in other parts of the country, Birmingham’s society greatly differed from that of other parishes. People there had more individual liberty and even marriages didn’t always rely on aristocratic ties, but on economic success.
Birmingham was also famous for being a haven for religious freedom, welcoming Christians from many denominations, which however led to attack by Royalists in the events culminating in the Civil War, such as the Battle of Birmingham in 1643. Birmingham was thus the perfect place for the Enlightenment to blossom. They were already questioning the dominant political and social structures of the country, so scientific groups such as the Lunar Society of Birmingham were able to quickly gain traction.
What’s unique about the Birmingham Enlightenment is that its most important figures didn’t want to simply profess scientific truth but to also entangle it with practical application by bringing together scientists and manufacturers, which led to great technological innovation similar to our present-day Silicon Valley.
This paved the way for the Industrial Revolution to come in full force in the city. In fact, it started way earlier than in other parts of the country. Rather than relying on a big workforce of low paid employees, Birmingham saw things differently and propped up smaller companies of well-educated people who preached division of the labour and paid their employees handsomely.
The business model also heavily relied on diversification, bringing about many different products in a short span. During the Industrial Revolution, Birmingham citizens applied for three times as many patents as people from other parts of the UK. The banking industry also grew exponentially to sustain the economy of the city.
In order for you to find out how many amazing discoveries happened in Birmingham, let us list them for you. Birmingham saw the inventions of the blast furnace, roller spinning, the cotton mill, the lead chamber process, the manufacturing of sulphuric acid, and last but not least, the industrial steam engine.
Although Birmingham was already a prosperous urban centre, it became a city of worldwide importance in the Industrial Era and you can now see why!
Blog Contents
Now that you know why we are so impressed with the city, let’s go back to the blog itself. We wanted to create a blog catering to the tourists and new residents of the city of Birmingham by telling you which places you should visit first.
On this blog, you can find out more about the historical landmarks of Birmingham, the museum, which holds evidence for the city’s inspiring history, along with many other articles detailing nice and perhaps obscure places to visit, so you can indulge in the spirit of the city.
We thank you for supporting our new venture and we hope you like the content that we post here. Have fun exploring the beauty of Birmingham!