X-Nico

33 unusual facts about Caen


21st Army Group

Normandy was a battle of attrition for the British and Canadian troops, drawing in most of the available German reinforcements, espcially armoured divisions, around Caen at the eastern end of the lodgement.

A. F. Livesay

Livesay trained in Caen, France, and was articled to James Adams (1785-1850) of Plymouth.

Architecture of Ireland

The design is typical of Irish gothic, and a blend of Corinthian and Doric, decorated with Sicilian marble and Caen stone.

Battle of Varaville

In August 1057, King Henry and Count Geoffrey invaded Normandy on a campaign that was aimed at Bayeux and Caen.

Bristol Castle

It had "two courts, and in the north-west part of the outer court there is a large keep with a dungeon, said to have been built of stone brought by the red Earl of Gloucester from Caen in Normandy. In the other court is an attractive church and many domestic quarters, with a great gate on the south side, a stone bridge and three ramparts on the left bank leading to the mouth of the Frome. Many towers still stand in both the courts, but they are all on the point of collapse.".

Brittany Ferries

In 1986, Brittany Ferries introduced the Duc de Normandie, which operated a new route between the increasingly popular port of Portsmouth and Caen.

Cadomian Orogeny

L Bertrand gave the orogeny its name in 1921, naming it after Cadomus the Gaulish name for Caen in Normandy.

Caen stone

Excavation restarted in the 1980s with the stone being used for building the Caen Memorial.

Caen stone or Pierre de Caen, is a light creamy-yellow Jurassic limestone quarried in northwestern France near the city of Caen.

Cătălin Predoiu

In 1994 he completed a training program in commercial law at the Caen Bar in France.

Cryonectes

It was found in the Roche-Blain quarry, located in the commune of Fresney-le-Puceux near the city of Laize-la-Ville, south of Caen.

Edward Pigott

Working as an astronomer with his father, he observed Jupiter's satellites and, from a station near Caen (Normandy, France), the transit of Venus of 3 June 1769.

Gare de Caen Saint-Martin

Saint Martin Station was situated on Caen's Place du Canada and the building is still present.

Gare de Falaise

The main line to Caen closed on 1 July 1953 and the branch line from Berjou on 1 March 1938.

Graham Dorey

Later he was educated Kingswood Sch Bath, University of Bristol, and then Ecole des Roches Verneuil in Caen in 1959, he was made an Advocate of the Royal Court of Guernsey 1960.

Gundulf of Rochester

He was a monk of St. Etienne in Caen before he came to England in 1070, as one of several clergy from Bec and St Etienne.

Hamane Niang

After his primary education in Kayes and secondary education in Bamako (Mali), Hamane Niang continued his studies in Dakar (Senegal) where he obtained a Masters in Economic Science and to Caen (France) where he obtained a diplôme d'études supérieures spécialisées (DESS), in finance.

High Synagogue, Kraków

It appears to be in a Renaissance manner with certain modifications common north of the alps(most notably the tracery, which resembles that of St-Pierre in Caen).

John Desmond Cronin

He commanded 50 pioneers in the Normandy landings in 1944 and later worked as a surgeon just outside Caen.

Karl Probst

Around 1990, a crescent-shaped street in Caen (France) was named after Karl Probst, both extremities of which open on another street named after Commodore John Hughes-Hallett, in a district close to the Mémorial pour la Paix museum, where a majority of streets commemorate personalities linked with the Second World War, the Résistance, and the subsequent making of the European Community.

Ligne de la Côte Fleurie

The first section was built between Dives-sur-Mer and Houlgate in 1882 as an extension of a railway line from Mézidon-Canon on the main railway line between Paris and Caen.

Liopleurodon

One tooth, found near Boulogne-sur-Mer, France in layers dating from the Callovian, was named Liopleurodon ferox, another from Charly, France was named Liopleurodon grossouvrei, while a third discovered near Caen, France was originally described as Poikilopleuron bucklandi and ascribed by Sauvage to the species Liopleurodon bucklandi.

Lord Michael Fitzalan-Howard

As majors, the brothers both fought in tanks in the Guards Armoured Division in the Second World War, fighting in the breakout from Caen after D-Day: Michael commanded a squadron of the 3rd Scots Guards, while Miles was brigade major of 5th Guards Armoured Brigade.

Louis-Édouard Garrido

The artist has been the director of the Beaux Arts school of Caen (Normandy), as well as the currator of the Musée des beaux-arts in Caen.

MV Armorique

Portsmouth-Caen (Ouistreham) March 2010/January 2011/January 2012/January 2013

MV Coutances

As the Coutances the ship has also served on Portsmouth-Caen (Ouistreham) in the early years of the route where she provided extra freight capacity.

Nathaniel Pigott

The younger Nathaniel Pigott married Anna Mathurina, daughter of Monsieur de Bériol, and spent some years at Caen in Normandy for the education of his children.

Oklahoma D-Day

The game seeks to faithfully recreate battles from the real Normandy invasion, including Omaha beach, Utah beach, Sword Beach, Colleville, Sainte-Mère-Église, Caen, Pegasus Bridge, and Vierville.

Ola Balogun

He studied at the University of Dakar (1962-3) and at the University of Caen, France (1963-6).

Operation Totalize

The intention was to break through the German defences south of Caen on the eastern flank of the Allied positions in Normandy and exploit success by driving south to capture the high ground north of the city of Falaise.

Pierre Gaultier

Gaultier is not identical to the Jesuit and scholar Pierre Gaultruche (Latinised form: Petrus Galtruchius Aurelianensis, baptized on 4 August 1602 in the church of Saint-Paul, Orléans, died 1681 in Caen) who he was formerly taken to be.

Roger of Salisbury

Roger was originally priest of a small chapel near Caen in Normandy.

Vimoutiers Tiger tank

After Morat’s death, ownership passed to another scrap dealer in Caen, but when they attempted to start scrapping the tank, the local people of Vimoutiers decided to purchase the tank as a historical monument for 6,000 Francs.


1995 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships

Eight teams contested the second tier this year in Caen, Rouen, Le Havre, and Louviers France from December 27 to January 5.

4th Canadian Armoured Brigade

Arriving in Normandy in July 1944, the brigade saw service in the battles that took the Canadians from Caen to Falaise.

Anjou

In June 1138, with the aid of Robert of Gloucester, Geoffrey obtained the submission of Bayeux and Caen; in October he devastated the neighbourhood of Falaise; and finally, in March 1141, on hearing of his wife's success in England, he again entered Normandy, when he made a triumphal procession through the country.

Bentham, North Yorkshire

The present building was built in the 1870s by Richard Norman Shaw, and includes an ancient coffin slab dating from about 1340; the Kirkbeck Stone dating from the 17th century; a 15th-century bell hanging in the porch; and a reredos in Caen stone with marble panels.

C Battery Royal Horse Artillery

C Battery Royal Horse Artillery are a Close Support Battery of 3rd Regiment Royal Horse Artillery currently based in Caen Barracks in Hohne, Germany

Caen stone

Both abbeys in Caen were built with Caen stone in Norman Romanesque style, and both were unscathed by heavy aerial bombing in July 1944 that destroyed much of the city, as they were being used by the local populace to shelter from the air raids.

Claude Antoine, comte Prieur-Duvernois

In 1793 he was a representative on mission surveying the ports of Lorient and Dunkirk, but he was arrested in Normandy upon the fall of the Girondists (June 1793) by the rebel authorities of Caen, and only released in July 1793 after the defeat of their forces at Vernon.

Clément Marot

His father, Jean Marot (c. 1463-1523), whose more correct name appears to have been des Mares, Marais or Marets, was a Norman from the Caen region and was also a poet.

Company of the Blessed Sacrament

In consequence of incidents that had occurred at Caen, it was vigorously attacked in a libel brought by Abbot Charles du Four, of the Abbey of Aulnay, and was denounced to Cardinal Mazarin by François Harlay de Champvallon, Archbishop of Rouen.

Edsel Ford Fong

Caen would interview Fong on matters of local politics and gossip, then reprint Fong's Yogi Berra-like responses, which Fong would in turn proudly show to his loyal regulars.

État 40-001 to 40-143

The engines were assigned to the depots of Paris-Vaugirard, Montrouge, Batignoles, Sotteville (Rouen), Le Havre, Dieppe, Trappes, Chartres, Caen, Cherbourg, St-Brieuc, Brest, Nantes, Rennes and La Rochelle as well as industrial railways and harbours.

Hans Siegel

He was awarded the Knight's Cross for his bravery and leadership in Normandy, in the Caen sector at Le Mesnil-Patry and Cheux, when on 27 June his company destroyed 37 Allied tanks, 11 of which Siegel destroyed himself.

Hans Waldmüller

Waldmüller was awarded the Knights Cross on 27 August 1944, for his bravery in the Battle of Normandy fighting at Cambes near Caen.

Harelle

Amiens, Dieppe, Falaise, Caen, Orléans, and Rheims were all seized by rebels who followed the pattern established by Rouen and Paris.

HSC Max Mols

In 2000 she operated between North Sydney and Port Aux Basques for Marine Atlantic, in 2002 she was chartered to Riga Sea Line for a route between Riga and Nynäshamn and her final charter was to P&O Ferries as the Max Mols (Caen Express) operating a high speed service between Portsmouth and Caen, returning to Mols Linien at the end of October.

II Canadian Corps

During the Battle of Normandy, the Corps was used to spearhead the British-Canadian advance from Caen to Falaise.

Jean-Jacques Boisard

As a member of the Royal Academy of Literature (Académie royale des Belles-lettres) of Caen, the first academy established in France after the "Académie française", he started publishing fables in 1764 in the Mercure de France.

Jean-Pierre Jaussaud

Jean-Pierre Jaussaud (born June 3, 1937 in Caen, Calvados) is a French former racing driver, more famous for winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1978 and 1980.

Jean-Pierre, Count of Montalivet

Montalivet Street in Paris, a Montalivet Square in Valence, Montalivet Avenue in Caen, Comte de Montalivet Street in Sarreguemines and the Montalivet Islands in Western Australia, are all named after him.

Jérémy Bigot

He played only one season in Caen before leaving for Nice where his two seasons saw the team rise from FFHG Division 2 to Division 1.

Mondeville 2

It is situated in the suburb of Caen in the town of Mondeville.

Nicolas Dautricourt

Strings Ensemble, Caen Symphony orchestra, Orchestre Pasdeloup, under conductors Yuri Bashmet, Eivind Gullberg Jensen, Dennis Russell Davies, Mishiyoshi Inoue, Kazuki Yamada,

Philippe Duron

Philippe Duron has also been the mayor of Louvigny (Calvados), and was elected mayor of Caen on 16 March 2008.

Pierre Patrix

His grandfather was a native of Beaucaire (Provence), who, having been in Caen in 1521, when the Parliament of Rouen sent some of its members to reform the University, was chosen by them, although he only was a Bachelor of Laws at the time, to be appointed as a professor of civil law.

Puy d'Arras

Other puys under her patronage were founded at Amiens, Boulogne-sur-Mer, Caen, Évreux, and Rouen.

San Francisco Chronicle

For many years "Herb Caen" was the only feature on its page (it traditionally shared a section front with a Macy's advertisement).

SNCF Class BB 27000

They can be seen largely in North and Eastern France and the lines through Dijon to Lyon, and the lines to Rouen and Caen.

Souleuvre Viaduct

The Viaduc de la Souleuvre was originally an impressive metallic railway viaduct based on stone pillars over the Souleuvre River, built during the 19th century by the famous French engineer Gustave Eiffel for the Caen to Saint-Lô and Vire line.