1.
Nottingham
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Nottingham is a city and unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, England, located 128 miles north of London, in the East Midlands. Nottingham has links to the legend of Robin Hood and to the lace-making, bicycle and it was granted its city charter in 1897 as part of Queen Victorias Diamond Jubilee celebrations. Nottingham is a tourist destination, in 2011, visitors spent over £1.5 billion - the thirteenth highest amount in Englands 111 statistical territories. In 2015, Nottingham had an population of 321,550 with the wider urban area. Its urban area is the largest in the east Midlands and the second largest in the Midlands, the population of the Nottingham/Derby metropolitan area is estimated to be 1,610,000. Its metropolitan economy is the seventh largest in the United Kingdom with a GDP of $50. 9bn, the city is also ranked as a sufficiency-level world city by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network. It is also a sporting centre, and in October 2015 was named Home of English Sport. The city also has rugby, ice hockey and cricket teams, and the Aegon Nottingham Open. This accolade came just over a year after Nottingham was named as the UKs first City of Football, on 11 December 2015, Nottingham was named a Unesco City of Literature, joining Norwich, Melbourne, Prague and Barcelona as one of only a handful in the world. The title reflects Nottinghams literary heritage, with Lord Byron, DH Lawrence and it has two universities, the University of Nottingham and Nottingham Trent University, which are attended by over 70,610 students. In modern Welsh it is known poetically as Y Ty Ogofog, when it fell under the rule of a Saxon chieftain named Snot it became known as Snotingaham, the homestead of Snots people. Some authors derive Nottingham from Snottenga, caves, and ham, Nottingham Castle was constructed in 1068 on a sandstone outcrop by the River Leen. Following the Norman Conquest the Saxon settlement developed into the English Borough of Nottingham and housed a Town Hall, a settlement also developed around the castle on the hill opposite and was the French borough supporting the Normans in the castle. Eventually, the space between was built on as the town grew and the Old Market Square became the focus of Nottingham several centuries later, defences, consisted initially of a ditch and bank in the early 12th century. The ditch was later widened, in the mid 13th century, a short length of the wall survives, and is visible at the northern end of Maid Marian Way, and is protected as a Scheduled Monument. On the return of Richard the Lionheart from the Crusades, the Castle was occupied by supporters of Prince John and it was besieged by Richard and, after a sharp conflict, was captured. In the legends of Robin Hood, Nottingham Castle is the scene of the showdown between the Sheriff and the hero outlaw. By the 15th century Nottingham had established itself as a centre of an export trade in religious sculpture made from Nottingham Alabaster
2.
England
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England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west, the Irish Sea lies northwest of England and the Celtic Sea lies to the southwest. England is separated from continental Europe by the North Sea to the east, the country covers five-eighths of the island of Great Britain in its centre and south, and includes over 100 smaller islands such as the Isles of Scilly, and the Isle of Wight. England became a state in the 10th century, and since the Age of Discovery. The Industrial Revolution began in 18th-century England, transforming its society into the worlds first industrialised nation, Englands terrain mostly comprises low hills and plains, especially in central and southern England. However, there are uplands in the north and in the southwest, the capital is London, which is the largest metropolitan area in both the United Kingdom and the European Union. In 1801, Great Britain was united with the Kingdom of Ireland through another Act of Union to become the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. In 1922 the Irish Free State seceded from the United Kingdom, leading to the latter being renamed the United Kingdom of Great Britain, the name England is derived from the Old English name Englaland, which means land of the Angles. The Angles were one of the Germanic tribes that settled in Great Britain during the Early Middle Ages, the Angles came from the Angeln peninsula in the Bay of Kiel area of the Baltic Sea. The earliest recorded use of the term, as Engla londe, is in the ninth century translation into Old English of Bedes Ecclesiastical History of the English People. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, its spelling was first used in 1538. The earliest attested reference to the Angles occurs in the 1st-century work by Tacitus, Germania, the etymology of the tribal name itself is disputed by scholars, it has been suggested that it derives from the shape of the Angeln peninsula, an angular shape. An alternative name for England is Albion, the name Albion originally referred to the entire island of Great Britain. The nominally earliest record of the name appears in the Aristotelian Corpus, specifically the 4th century BC De Mundo, in it are two very large islands called Britannia, these are Albion and Ierne. But modern scholarly consensus ascribes De Mundo not to Aristotle but to Pseudo-Aristotle, the word Albion or insula Albionum has two possible origins. Albion is now applied to England in a poetic capacity. Another romantic name for England is Loegria, related to the Welsh word for England, Lloegr, the earliest known evidence of human presence in the area now known as England was that of Homo antecessor, dating to approximately 780,000 years ago. The oldest proto-human bones discovered in England date from 500,000 years ago, Modern humans are known to have inhabited the area during the Upper Paleolithic period, though permanent settlements were only established within the last 6,000 years
3.
Snooker
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Snooker is a cue sport which originated in India in the latter half of the 19th century. It is played on a covered with a green cloth, or baize, with pockets at each of the four corners. Using a cue and 22 coloured balls, players must strike the ball to pot the remaining balls in the correct sequence. An individual game, or frame, is won by the player who scores the most points, a match is won when a player wins a predetermined number of frames. In the 1870s, billiards was a sport played by members of the British Army stationed in India. Snooker gained its own identity in 1884 when officer Sir Neville Chamberlain, while stationed in Ooty, devised a set of rules that combined pyramid, the word snooker was a long used military term used to describe inexperienced or first year personnel. The game grew in popularity in England, cemented by the formation of the Billiards Association and it is now governed by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. The World Snooker Championship has taken place since 1927, with Joe Davis becoming a key figure in the growth of the sport with 15 championship wins from 1927 to 1946. Top professional players now compete regularly around the world and attain multi-million-pound career earnings, the sport has become increasingly popular in China. The origin of snooker dates back to the half of the nineteenth century. In the 1870s, billiards was a popular activity amongst British Army officers stationed in India, one such variation originated at the officers mess of the 11th Devonshire Regiment in Jabalpur in 1875, which combined the rules of two pocket billiards games, pyramid and life pool. The former was played with fifteen red balls and one positioned in a triangle, while the latter involved the potting of designated coloured balls. The name instantly stuck with the players, in 1887, snooker was given its first definite reference in England in a copy of Sporting Life which caused a growth in popularity. Chamberlain came out as the inventor in a letter to The Field published on 19 March 1938,63 years after the fact. To accommodate the growing interest, smaller and more open snooker-specific clubs were formed, in 1919, the Billiards Association and the Billiards Control Board merged to form the Billiards Association and Control Club and a new, standard set of rules for snooker first became official. Davis won every championship until 1946 when he retired. The game went into a decline through the 1950s and 1960s with little interest generated outside of those who played, in 1959, Davis introduced a variation of the game, known as snooker plus to try to improve the games popularity by adding two extra colours. The TV series became a success and was for a time the second most popular show on BBC Two
4.
Loughborough
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Loughborough is a town with the Charnwood borough of Leicestershire, England. It is the seat of Charnwood Borough Council and home to Loughborough University, the town had a population of 57,600 in 2004, making it the second largest settlement in Leicestershire. The town is close to the Nottinghamshire border and is within a distance of locations such as Nottingham. The first mention of Loughborough is in the 1086 Domesday Book, Loughboroughs local weekly newspaper is the Loughborough Echo. The town is served by Leicestershires daily newspaper, the Leicester Mercury. Loughboroughs earliest historical reference was as Lucteburne in the 1086 Domesday Book, Heathcoat, in partnership with the Nottingham manufacturer Charles Lacy, moved his business from there to the village of Hathern, outside Loughborough. The product of this Loughborough machine came to be known as English net or bobbinet, however, the factory was attacked in 1816 by Luddites thought to be in the pay of Nottingham competitors and 55 frames were destroyed. This prompted Heathcoat to move his business to a woollen mill in Tiverton, Devon. In 1888 a charter of incorporation was obtained, allowing a mayor, the population increased from 11,000 to 25,000 in the following ten years. In 1897, Herbert Morris set up a factory in the Empress Works in Moor Lane which become one of the foremost crane manufacturers by the mid-20th century. There was also strong municipal investment, a new works in 1895, then a waterworks in Blackbrook. The corporation took over Loughborough Gas Company in 1900, in 1841, Loughborough was the destination for the first package tour, organised by Thomas Cook for a temperance group from Leicester. Loughborough railway station is the national station serving the town. Network Rail has recently redeveloped the station, increasing the length of platforms, the local council has made concurrent improvements to the surrounding area. The station has services from London St. Pancras International, to which its twice-hourly London service goes, East Midlands Trains is the primary long-distance operator, running services between London and northern England, and provides local services throughout the East Midlands. These rail routes run north–south through Loughborough along the Midland Main Line, going south to Bedford, Luton and London, junctions at Leicester and Derby stations link with CrossCountry trains route, serving the far north-east of Scotland and the south-west of England. Today, the Great Central Railway line is in operation as the Great Central Steam Railway heritage railway and is the terminus of the section of the railway. It has an active Great Central station running services daily, the station was opened by the Great Central Railway on 15 March 1899, closed in 1969 and re-opened again in March 1974
5.
Birmingham
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Birmingham is a major city and metropolitan borough of West Midlands, England lying on the River Rea, a small river that runs through Birmingham. It is the largest and most populous British city outside London, the city is in the West Midlands Built-up Area, the third most populous urban area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2,440,986 at the 2011 census. Birminghams metropolitan area is the second most populous in the UK with a population of 3.8 million and this also makes Birmingham the 8th most populous metropolitan area in Europe. By 1791 it was being hailed as the first manufacturing town in the world, perhaps the most important invention in British history, the industrial steam engine, was invented in Birmingham. From the summer of 1940 to the spring of 1943, Birmingham was bombed heavily by the German Luftwaffe in what is known as the Birmingham Blitz. The damage done to the infrastructure, in addition to a deliberate policy of demolition and new building by planners, led to extensive demolition. Today Birminghams economy is dominated by the service sector and its metropolitan economy is the second largest in the United Kingdom with a GDP of $121. 1bn, and its six universities make it the largest centre of higher education in the country outside London. Birmingham is the fourth-most visited city in the UK by foreign visitors, Birminghams sporting heritage can be felt worldwide, with the concept of the Football League and lawn tennis both originating from the city. Its most successful football club Aston Villa has won seven league titles, people from Birmingham are called Brummies, a term derived from the citys nickname of Brum. This originates from the citys name, Brummagem, which may in turn have been derived from one of the citys earlier names. There is a distinctive Brummie accent and dialect, Birminghams early history is that of a remote and marginal area. The main centres of population, power and wealth in the pre-industrial English Midlands lay in the fertile and accessible river valleys of the Trent, the Severn and the Avon. The area of modern Birmingham lay in between, on the upland Birmingham Plateau and within the wooded and sparsely populated Forest of Arden. Birmingham as a settlement dates from the Anglo-Saxon era, within a century of the charter Birmingham had grown into a prosperous urban centre of merchants and craftsmen. By 1327 it was the third-largest town in Warwickshire, a position it would retain for the next 200 years, by 1700 Birminghams population had increased fifteenfold and the town was the fifth-largest in England and Wales. The importance of the manufacture of goods to Birminghams economy was recognised as early as 1538. Equally significant was the emerging role as a centre for the iron merchants who organised finance, supplied raw materials. The 18th century saw this tradition of free-thinking and collaboration blossom into the phenomenon now known as the Midlands Enlightenment
6.
World Snooker Championship
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The World Snooker Championship is the leading snooker tournament both in terms of prestige and prize money. The first championship was held in 1927 and was won by Joe Davis, Davis won the first 15 championships before retiring from the event, undefeated, after his 1946 success. In the 1950s snooker went into a period of decline and the championship was not held after 1952, in 1964 the championship was revived on a challenge basis and in 1969 the championship became a knock-out event again. Since 1977 it has played at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield. The tournament is played over 17 days and ends on the first Monday in May. In the modern era, the best record is that of Stephen Hendry, Steve Davis and Ray Reardon both won six times while Ronnie OSullivan has won five titles. The current champion is Mark Selby, who has won the tournament twice, the first championship was held in 1927 and was called the Professional Snooker Championship. It was the first important professional snooker tournament although the English Amateur Championship has been contested since 1916, ten professionals entered including most of the leading billiards players. Matches were over 15 frames with the semi-finals over 23 frames, the first match played was between Melbourne Inman and Tom Newman at Thurstons Hall, Leicester Square in London. The snooker was played as an extra to the main event. The match started on Monday 29 November 1926 and one frame of snooker was played at the end of each session, Inman won 8–5, the match finishing on the Monday afternoon, a week after it started. One other match was played in connection with a billiards contest, with minimal prize money, players mainly made money from their share of the gate receipts. Because of this it was common for dead frames to be played after the result of the match had been decided, the final between Joe Davis and Tom Dennis was played over four days in early May at Camkins Hall in Birmingham. Davis won the first seven frames and led throughout, taking a winning 16–7 lead on the third day, the highest break of the tournament was 60, made by Albert Cope in his semi-final match against Davis, in a dead frame after Davis had won the match. Davis made a 57 break of the final, the 1928 Championship was played on a challenge basis, with the other 6 entries playing off for the right to challenge Joe Davis in the final. Davis met Fred Lawrence in the final, winning 16–13, the challenge system was dropped in 1929. Davis met Tom Dennis in the final, played in Denniss home town of Nottingham, Davis made a new record break of 61 on the way to a 17–12 victory. The same pair met in the 1930 final, played for the first time at Thurstons Hall in London, the final was extended to 49 frames played over 6 days
7.
Joe Davis
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Joseph Joe Davis, OBE was an English professional snooker and English billiards player. He was the dominant figure in snooker from the 1920s and he won the first 15 World Championships from 1927 to 1946. After his 1946 victory he no longer played in the World Championship but continued to play in tournaments and exhibition matches. He was also World Billiards Champion 4 times between 1928 and 1932, Joe Davis became a professional billiards player at the age of 18, having won the Chesterfield Championship at age 13. In 1926 he reached his first World Professional Billiards Championship final but was unsuccessful against defending champion Tom Newman and he reached the final again the following year and was runner-up again to the same opponent. It was to be a case of third time lucky for Davis when he defeated Newman in 1928 to become the champion at English billiards for the first time. He would defend his title for the three years – against Newman again in 1929 and 1930 and New Zealander Clark McConachy in 1932. He contested the two more times in 1933 and 1934 losing on both occasions to Australian Walter Lindrum. He went on to win the championship every year until 1940. Joes brother Fred, twelve years his junior, was also a snooker player, when Joe met Fred in the world championship final of 1940, Joe won 37–36. Following the outbreak of World War II the world championship was not held for the five years. On resumption in 1946, Davis defended his title making it his 15th consecutive win, to date, he has won more world championships than any other player. He retired from the event following this victory making him the only undefeated player in the history of the world championships, Davis proved he was still the man to beat up to the 1950s by winning the News of the World Tournament on three occasions during the decade. His nearest rivals were his brother, Fred, and future world champion John Pulman who each won it on two occasions. He made history in 1955 by achieving the first officially recognised maximum break of 147 in snooker in a match at Leicester Square Hall. He had previously made the games first official century break in 1930, in 1959 Davis attempted to popularise a new version of the game called snooker plus. This game had two colours, an orange and a purple and was used for the 1959 News of the World Snooker Plus Tournament. In 1962, when over 60 years of age, he made the first televised century break
8.
Tinsley Lindley
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Dr. Tinsley Lindley OBE was an English footballer. He was described as a centre forward. He scored three goals in his debut aged 16 for Nottingham Forest and he was an amateur who did not wear football boots but scored 14 goals for England in 13 internationals Lindley was given an O. B. E. Lindley was the son of Leonard Lindley who was a lace dresser. The family lived in Clipstone Avenue, Nottingham and Lindley attended Nottingham High School between 1875 and 1883, where he first revealed his talent and he later attended The Leys School in Cambridge, where he turned to rugby. From 1885 to 1888 he studied at Caius College, Cambridge and during this time played football for Cambridge University, Tinsley obtained not just a degree but he also achieved a Master of Law and LL. D law doctorate. In 1888, he returned to his town to join Nottingham Forest. He was the youngest ever Nottingham Forest player and at age 16 he scored three goals on his debut on 17 February 1882, in one season, he scored 85 goals for Forest. In 1891 he also played for Crusaders and Swifts for a short while before guest-playing for Preston North End in a 4–1 defeat at Sunderland in 1892. His many transfers were due primarily to his professional full-time career and he was the epitome of the Corinthian gentleman amateur of his time, being an academic as well as a sportsman. He refused to wear football boots when playing, preferring walking brogues instead. His England call-up came on 13 March 1886 when, along with his Nottingham Forest team-mate Teddy Leighton, he was one of eight new caps selected to play against Ireland at Ballynafeigh Park, Belfast. Lindley scored as England totally dominated the match with Benjamin Spilsbury scoring four goals in a 6–1 victory and it has been claimed that he holds the record for scoring in 9 consecutive England matches between 13 March 1886 and 7 April 1888. He did, however, score in each of the next 6 consecutive games, in total he scored 14 international goals in just 13 games. He held the overall England goalscoring record from March 1888 when he equalled Charles Bambridges tally of 11 until his final tally of 14 was overhauled by Steve Bloomer in 1898, Lindley played first-class cricket for Cambridge University and Nottinghamshire. He played ten games between 1885 and 1893 taking nearly a wicket a match as a round-arm right-armed slow to medium bowler, Lindley also averaged about 10 runs per innings as a right handed batsman. On retirement from football, Lindley turned his attention to his law practice. He also lectured in law at University of Nottingham and served as a County Court Judge on the Midland Circuit, Lindley also stayed loyal to Nottingham Forest, serving on the committee for several years
9.
British Newspaper Archive
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The British Newspaper Archive web site provides access to searchable digitised archives of British newspapers. It was launched in November 2011, the British Library Newspapers section was based in Colindale in North London, until 2013, and is now divided between the St Pancras and Boston Spa sites. The Library has an almost complete collection of British and Irish newspapers since 1840 and this is partly because of the legal deposit legislation of 1869, which required newspapers to supply a copy of each edition of a newspaper to the library. London editions of daily and Sunday newspapers are complete back to 1801. In total the collection consists of 660,000 bound volumes and 370,000 reels of microfilm containing tens of millions of newspapers with 52,000 titles on 45 km of shelves. After the closure of Colindale in November 2013, access to the 750 million original printed pages was maintained via an automated and climate-controlled storage facility in Boston Spa, in May 2010 a ten-year programme of digitisation of the newspaper archives with commercial partner DC Thomson subsidiary Brightsolid began. In November 2011, BBC News announced the launch of the British Newspaper Archive, the same newspapers from this partnership have also been made available to view on Findmypast and Genes Reunited. The digitisation project established a search facility which people could consult without having to visit the British Library newspaper depository in person. The Thomason Tracts and Burney collections are held at St Pancras, the section also has extensive records of non-British newspapers in languages that use the Latin and Cyrillic alphabets. The Librarys substantial holdings of newspapers in the languages of Asia and the Middle East may be accessed at the Librarys reading rooms at St. Pancras. While access within the British Library is free, online access is via a system based on daily or item charges. As part of The Wikipedia Library, Brightsolid provided free one-year subscriptions to a number of experienced Wikipedia editors from July 2014. The agreement was terminated in 2016 because structural changes at their parent organisation mean that there is no longer interest in continuing the partnership with The Wikipedia Library. Reviews of the service have been mixed, with some early responses complimentary about the ability to access, however, there have been complaints of the excessive cost and the general policy of the British Library allowing a private company the rights to the newspapers. One writer noted that, The BNA demonstrates what happens to our cultural heritage when there is no political will for public investment, web site of the British Newspaper Archive
10.
Loughborough Town Hall
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The Loughborough Town Hall is a building fronting onto the Market Place in Loughborough, Leicestershire, England. Built as an exchange and ballroom in 1855, it continues to be used for public gatherings, including concerts, exhibitions, musicals. It was designed by architect William Slater and built in 1855, the main hall has a capacity of 500 people. The origins of the Town Hall lie in the early 19th century and it received much more momentum with the involvement of the local MP, C. W. Packe of Prestwold Hall, who donated £500 towards the enterprise. With his backing, other local gentry got on board, and £8,000 was raised for the purchase of land, the Italianate design, with decorative bellcote was the work of Northampton-born architect William Slater. CW Packe laid a foundation stone in October 1854. The primary uses in its earliest days were as a ground floor corn exchange hall, upstairs was a ballroom for the use of the gentry. However from the outset all manor of public gatherings and entertainments were able to use of the premises. When Loughborough received a charter in 1888, the new council took on roles for the town. The Corn Exchange company agreed to sell the building for £5,000 and it was renamed the Town Hall, and a programme of works costing a further £3,000 was begun. Additions included the Mayors Parlour and the Council Chamber, and Mr E. B Farnham, MP for North Leicestershire, a grand banquet was held in 1890 to mark the re-opening. Alongside its new roles, the Town Hall continued to provide a venue for entertainment, concerts. Notable past performers include Budgie in 1986
Joe Davis (61)