X-Nico

47 unusual facts about Edinburgh


A.G. Visser

He received teacher's training at Normaal College in Cape Town en studied medicine in Edinburgh, Scotland from 1901 to 1906.

Abraham Logan

Also a prominent lawyer, having studied law in Edinburgh, Logan played a significant role in the historic transfrerral of the Straits Settlement to the Colonial Office.

All Creatures Will Make Merry

Following the critical acclaim of the band's debut album, Pissing On Bonfires / Kissing With Tongues, a newly extended version of Meursault recorded All Creatures Will Make Merry in the winter of 2009, in Stockbridge, Edinburgh.

Archibald Campbell, 1st Duke of Argyll

On 12 March 1678, he married Elizabeth Tollemache (daughter of Elizabeth and Lionel Tollemache, 3rd Baronet of Helmingham) at Edinburgh, Scotland.

Archibald I, Lord of Douglas

Between 1214 and 1226, Archibald acquired the use of the lands of Hermiston and Livingston, with Maol Choluim I, Earl of Fife as his feudal superior.

Barns Ness Lighthouse

Taking approximately 2½ years to construct, it was constructed from stone quarried from Craigree (near Cramond) and Barnton.

Battle of Porto Bello

The capture of Porto Bello was welcomed as an exceptionally popular triumph throughout Britain and America, and the name of Portobello came to be used in commemoration at a variety of locations, such as the Portobello Road in London, the Portobello district of Edinburgh and also in Dublin; as well as Porto Bello in Virginia.

Chuck Blair

Blair was born in Edinburgh, Scotland and while still an infant, he immigrated with his family to Canada.

Colin Lauder

The son of Dr George Lauder (1712–1752) a surgeon and fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, by his spouse Rosina Preston (d.1786), Colin Lauder was the great-great-grandson of Sir John Lauder, 1st Baronet, of Fountainhall and the grandson of Surgeon Dr John Lauder (1683-1737) deacon of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh.

Combretum indicum

Dr John Ivor Murray sent a sample of the "nuts" to the Museum of Economic Botany in Edinburgh in 1861, with a note that they were "used by the Chinese for worms" and a description of the means of preparation and dosage.

Drummond Street

Drummond Street, Edinburgh, a street in the Old Town of Edinburgh, United Kingdom

Edinburgh Northern Tramways

A second line opened on 17 February 1890 from George Street along Frederick Street and Howe Street through Stockbridge to Comely Bank.

Edinburgh, Leith and Newhaven Railway

The loop via Piershill and Abbeyhill was retained and used as a diversion for slower trains, and in both 1970 and 1986 a temporary passenger halt at Meadowbank was built for the duration of the Commonwealth Games.

Edinburgh's Telford College

On 15 September 2006, Telford College's purpose-built main campus in Granton was formally opened by the First Minister of Scotland, the Rt.

Edward Brackenbury

Brackenbury, a direct descendant from Sir Robert Brackenbury, lieutenant of the Tower of London in the time of Richard III, was second son of Richard Brackenbury, of Aswardby, Lincolnshire, by his wife Janetta, daughter of George Gunn of Edinburgh.

Edward William Elton

Before the termination of the season he accepted an engagement of a month from William H. Murray of the Theatre Royal, Edinburgh.

Edwin Muir

A memorial bench was erected in 1962 to Muir in the idyllic village of Swanston, Edinburgh, where he spent time during the 1950s.

Fishing industry in Scotland

The SFF lobbies for the interests of Scottish fishermen at national and international levels in Edinburgh, London and Brussels.

Holy Cross Church, St Helens

Fr Thomas Seed, the head of the Jesuits in Britain, who also founded Sacred Heart Church in Edinburgh laid the foundation stone of the church on 3 May 1860, what was then Feast of the Finding of the True Cross.

International Seismological Centre

The present International Seismological Centre was formed in Edinburgh in 1964, with Dr. P.L. Willmore as its first director, to continue the work of the International Seismological Summary (ISS), which was the first gathering of all observations of earthquakes worldwide.

Jack Pratt

John "Jack" Pratt (b. 13 April 1906 in Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom - d. 11 January 1988) was a professional ice hockey player who played 37 games in the National Hockey League.

Jane Scott, Duchess of Buccleuch

McNeill's marriage to Lord Dalkeith on 10 January 1953 at St. Giles's Cathedral, Edinburgh, attracted media attention, as Dalkeith had earlier been expected to marry Queen Elizabeth II's sister Margaret.

John Dowie

John Dowie (innkeeper) c.1800, owner of the infamous John Dowie's Tavern on Liberton Wynd in Edinburgh's Old Town

John Lawrence Toole

Encouraged by Dickens, he made his professional stage debut in 1852 at the Queen's Theatre in Dublin, under the management of Charles Dillon, and by 1853 became the principal "low comedian" at the Theatre Royale in Edinburgh.

John Lessels

Important commissions included the Walker Estate, the area of the western New Town developed from the 1850s, and his appointment as architect to the City Improvement Trust, with David Cousin, in 1866, which oversaw the redevelopment of parts of the Old Town.

John Wilson Murray

Born in Edinburgh, Scotland and came to North America as a young boy.

Joshua Guest

The castle was successfully held during the time Edinburgh was occupied by the rebels, the last act of the defenders being to cannonade Prince Charles's followers at the review preceding their march into England.

Lady Margaret Sackville

In 1922 she published "A Masque of Edinburgh." This was performed at the Music Hall, George Street, Edinburgh, and depicted the history of Edinburgh in eleven scenes from the Romans to a meeting between the poet Robert Burns and the writer Sir Walter Scott.

Leith Harbour

It is named after Leith the harbour area of Edinburgh, Christian Salvesen's home town.

Michael Proffitt

Raised in Edinburgh, Proffitt attend the University of Oxford, where he studied English language and literature.

Niddrie, Victoria

By 1871, Stevenson had built a house he named Niddrie, after his birthplace of Niddrie, a suburb of Edinburgh, Scotland.

North Britain

The North British Railway operated from 1846 to 1923, leaving a later legacy in the name of the North British Hotel in Edinburgh, which was renamed ‘The Balmoral Hotel’ in the 1980s.

North Carr Lightship

She created quite a stir in Edinburgh on account of her fog horn being tested while lying at ¾ mile outside Granton in the Firth of Forth.

Rannoch School

Other schools that carry out this practice include Merchiston Castle School in Edinburgh.

Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America

In response to the King's attempts to change the style of worship and form of government in the churches that had previously been agreed upon (covenanted) by the free assemblies and parliament, a number of ministers affirmed their adherence to those previous agreements by becoming signatories to the "National Covenant" of February 1638 at Greyfriars Kirk, in Edinburgh.

Ronnie Shade

Shade was born in Edinburgh and grew up playing golf at Dudddingston Golf Club in that city.

Sighthill Stadium

Sighthill Stadium was a proposed stadium to be located in the Sighthill district of Edinburgh, Scotland.

Simon Kassianides

At the University of Edinburgh he was the producer and executive producer of a sold out run of Grease at the George Square theatre.

Stanley Park, Liverpool

It includes the 1899 Gladstone Conservatory (recently restored and renamed the Isla Gladstone Conservatory), a Grade II listed building built by Mackenzie & Moncur of Edinburgh.

Trinity Academicals RFC

Trinity Academicals RFC, nicknamed "Trinity" or "Trinity Accies" is a rugby union based in Leith, Edinburgh, Scotland, originally for the former pupils of Trinity Academy, Edinburgh.

Tyrrell 003

The vehicle is currently on display at the National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh.

United Kingdom mines and quarries regulation in 1910

The need for this provision was demonstrated by a decision of the Court of Session in Edinburgh, which upheld an employer in his claim to the right of dismissing all the workmen and re-engaging them on condition that they would dismiss a particular checkweigher.

University of Edinburgh School of GeoSciences

The institutes of Ecological Sciences and Earth Science are located at the King's Buildings, whilst the Institute of Geography is located on Drummond Street in the Central Area.

Weir of Hermiston

By mutual consent, Archie is banished from his family of origin and sent to live as the local laird on a family property in the vicinity of Hermiston (now on Edinburgh's outskirts, and occupied by Heriot-Watt University, but then out in the countryside).

Westminster Bubble

More recently, in Scotland, there has been a development of a "Holyrood bubble", as the Scottish Parliament is in the Holyrood district of Edinburgh.

William Abernethy Drummond

Having paid his respects to Prince Charles Edward, when he held his court at Holyrood in 1745, he was afterwards exposed to much annoyance and even danger on that account, and was glad to avail himself of his medical degree, and wear for some years the usual professional costume of the Edinburgh physicians.

Woolamaloo Gazette

The Woolamaloo Gazette is a blog begun by Edinburgh bookseller Joe Gordon in April 2003, posting satiricial takes on news stories, comments, book reviews, photographs and general life in Edinburgh.


1876–77 Home Nations rugby union matches

Scotland: HH Johnston (Edinburgh University RFC), Malcolm Cross, RC MacKenzie, EI Pocock (Edinburgh Wanderers), JR Hay-Gordon, SH Smith, DH Watson, D Lang, C Villar, RW Irvine capt.

Alexander Edward

Alexander Edward died in Edinburgh, and was buried in Greyfriars Kirkyard.

Ancient universities of Scotland

In modern times, former college names may refer to specific university buildings, such as the King's College and Marischal College buildings in Aberdeen, the Old College and New College at Edinburgh and the 'Old College' to refer to the former buildings of the University of Glasgow before its move in the 19th century to Gilmorehill.

Anne McIntosh

She trained for the Scottish Bar in Edinburgh from 1980, being admitted to the Faculty of Advocates in June 1982.

Anthony Wonke

In 2013, Fire in the Night a documentary feature about the Piper Alpha disaster produced by STV for Creative Scotland/BBC, had it’s world premier at the Edinburgh International Film Festival and went on to win the festivals prestigious Audience Award.

Buckfast Tonic Wine

In February 2013, J. Chandler & Company applied to the Court of Session in Edinburgh to stop Strathclyde Police from marking bottles of Buckfast so they could trace where under-age drinkers bought them.

Carlos Alexander

Alexander has sung with companies in Buenos Aires, Vienna, Brussels, Canada, Copenhagen, Paris, Athens, Bayreuth (Beckmesser in Wieland Wagner's Die Meistersinger, 1963), Berlin, Cologne, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Munich, Stuttgart, Florence, Mexico City, Basel, Geneva, Zurich, Edinburgh, Glyndebourne, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Cincinnati, Fort Worth, Hartford, etc.

Clan Kerr

Newbattle Abbey or Newbattle Castle near Edinburgh became a secular lordship for the last commendator, Mark Kerr, 1st Earl of Lothian (Ker) in 1587.

Cordelia Fine

Born in Toronto, Fine spent her childhood in the United States and Edinburgh.

Craig Docherty

He even said that if he lost, he would run through Princes Street in Edinburgh, bare naked.

Cyril Aldred

He died peacefully at his home in Edinburgh in 1991 but is remembered as one of the leading characters in improving archaeology in Scotland at the Burrell Collection in Glasgow.

David E. Muller

After a brief stay in Madrid and Paris, in September 1937, Hermann moved to Edinburgh, where he married Dorothea Kantorowicz in May 1939.

Demography of Scotland

Around 70% of the country's population live in the Central Lowlands — region stretching in a northeast-southwest orientation between the major cities of Edinburgh and Glasgow, and including major settlements such as Paisley, Stirling, Falkirk, Perth and Dundee.

Dunbar railway station

A year later in May 2011, all Scotrail services between Dunbar and Edinburgh introduced a one intermediate stop at Musselburgh to allow the connection of Dunbar students to Queen Margaret University.

Duncan Inglis Cameron

He served as justice of the peace for several decades and was a highly respected session clerk of St Ninian's Church in Corstorphine, Edinburgh.

Edinburgh Castle Rock

Edinburgh rock, a Scottish confection sometimes known as Edinburgh Castle Rock

Edwin C. May

His technical expertise is well respected, and he has given presentations at the famous World War II site Bletchley Park (UK), Harvard University, the Universities of California at Los Angeles and at Davis, Stanford University, the University of Edinburgh, Trinity College Cambridge, Eötvös Loránd University, the University of Stockholm, Imperial College London and others.

Festival Cup

As Edinburgh's twin cities include Munich, Florence and Kiev, the local media speculated that a globally recognised team such as FC Bayern Munich, ACF Fiorentina or Dynamo Kiev may play in Scotland's capital.

Geogaddi

The album premiered in six cities around the world: London, New York, Tokyo, Edinburgh, Paris, and Berlin.

George Lawson Johnston, 1st Baron Luke

Luke was the second son of John Lawson Johnston, a beef manufacturer and the founder of Bovril Ltd and Elizabeth, daughter of George Lawson, biscuit manufacturer of Edinburgh.

Giric

Alfred P. Smyth, Warlords and Holy Men: Scotland AD 80–1000. E.J. Arnold, London, 1984 (reprinted Edinburgh UP).

Glitters Like Gold

'Glitters Like Gold' featured throughout the February and March 2012 tour at venues in London, Edinburgh, Brighton and Leeds, and opens fifth LP In the Belly of the Brazen Bull.

Henry Bickersteth, 1st Baron Langdale

By the advice of his uncle, Dr. Robert Batty, in October 1801, he went to Edinburgh to pursue his medical studies, and in the following year was called home to take his father's practice in his temporary absence.

J. K. Annand

Born at Edinburgh to plumber William Annand and his wife Maggie Gold, educated at Broughton Secondary School, he graduated from Edinburgh University in 1930 and later taught at schools in Edinburgh and Whithorn.

James Craig Annan

James Annan subsequently joined his family’s photographic business, T. & R. Annan and Sons of Glasgow, Hamilton and Edinburgh, and in 1883 went to Vienna to learn the process of photogravure from the inventor, Karel Klíč.

JANET

The core point of presence (Backbone) sites in SuperJanet4 were Edinburgh, Glasgow, Warrington, Reading, Bristol, Portsmouth, London and Leeds.

John Lazar

Born in Edinburgh, Lazar came to Sydney in 1837 where he worked as an actor and theatre manager.

John Runciman

Born in Edinburgh, he was the younger brother of the better-known painter Alexander Runciman.

John Somerville, 4th Lord Somerville

The historian only found one charter signed by John at Edinburgh in 1510 connected with his coming-of-age, and assumes the Lord spent most of his life at Cowthally Castle near Carnwath.

King Creosote

Anderson also contributed to the Cold Seeds collaborative album along with Frances Donnelly of Animal Magic Tricks, and Neil Pennycook and Pete Harvey from Meursault; which was released on the Edinburgh-based indie label Song, By Toad Records.

Landsbanki

In 2005, Landsbanki acquired three European securities houses: Teather & Greenwood, located in London and Edinburgh; Kepler Capital Markets, headquartered in Paris; and Merrion Capital Group in Dublin.

Lawrence Macdonald

In about four years he returned to Edinburgh, and there produced busts of Professor John Wilson and George Combe, the phrenologist.

Louis Isaac Rabinowitz

Rabbi Rabinowitz was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, descendant of a long lineage of Lithuanian Rabbis.

Mayfield Park

Mayfield Park, Edinburgh, a recreational area in Edinburgh, Scotland (see Hibernian F.C.)

Multrees Walk

Multrees Walk, Harvey Nichols and Edinburgh Bus Station (which sits below 'Multrees Walk' and is accessed by escalators from St Andrew Square or from Elder Street) was designed by Edinburgh architects CDA

Osadia

Tollwood Festival, Munich / Sydney Mardi Gras, Australia / Trafalgar Square Festival, London, UK / Juste pour rire/Just for laughs, Montreal, Canada / The Esplanade Festival, Singapore / NZ International Festival, Wellington, New Zealand / Kleines Fest im Grossen Garten, Hanover / Daidogei World Cup, Shizuoka, Japan / Hogmanay, Edinburgh, Scotland / Festes de la Mercè, Barcelona

Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council

Its head office was at Polaris House in Swindon, Wiltshire, but it also operated three scientific sites: the UK Astronomy Technology Centre (UK ATC) in Edinburgh, the Isaac Newton Group of Telescopes (ING) in La Palma and the Joint Astronomy Centre (JAC) in Hawaii.

Paulo Sérgio Bento Brito

On 19 May 2012, Sérgio and Hearts won the 2011–12 Scottish Cup – the eighth Scottish Cup victory for the club and the first in six years – after a 5–1 victory against fellow Edinburgh side Hibernian.

Philip Palin

Philip Palin was born in Edinburgh on 8 August 1864, the son of Lieutenant-General C.T. Palin of the Bombay Army.

Queen of the Troubled Teens

Initially, the single received only small scale acknowledgement in Edinburgh's record shops, and later received praise from local students and BBC Radio 1's Steve Lamacq.

Raoul Bhaneja

In January 2006 Bhaneja debuted in Hamlet (solo), a one-man version of William Shakespeare's Hamlet directed by Robert Ross Parker, which has been performed across Canada including an engagement at The National Arts Centre in the fall of 2013, in the United Kingdom at The Assembly Rooms as part of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art as well as in New York City on a number of occasions, including Off Broadway.

Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh

The Royal Hospital for Sick Children located in Edinburgh is to be rebuilt on the Little France site beside the Infirmary.

Salem Ramaswami Mudaliar

Ramaswami halted at Edinburgh on way to Aberdeen to listen to the speech of the liberal leader William Ewart Gladstone while he regarded the speech given by John Bright at Birmingham as the best he had ever listened to in life.

Samuel Manuwa

He then proceeded to study at the University of Edinburgh where he received a bachelor's degree in Chemistry and Medicine in 1926.

Steve Oram

He started as a character comedian on the comedy circuit and performed several comedy shows at the Edinburgh Fringe with comedy partner Tom Meeten during the early 2000s.

The Omega Factor

Produced by BBC Scotland, the series was shot on location in Edinburgh (making use of a number of Edinburgh landmarks such as the Royal Mile, Holyrood Park, and Edinburgh Zoo), with studio production conducted in Glasgow.

Thornbridge Brewery

Thornbridge's beers were originally brewed by Martin Dickie, a graduate of the International Centre for Distilling and Brewing at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, and Stefano Cossi, a graduate in Food Science and Technology at Udine University, Italy.