X-Nico

42 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.

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.

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.

Caledonian Club

There are reciprocal arrangements with clubs in Scotland (the New Club in Edinburgh, The Western in Glasgow, Royal Northern and University Club in Aberdeen and the Royal Perth Golfing Society) and County and City Club, London and the south east, and some 60 clubs worldwide, including the Hong Kong Club, the Hurlingham Club in Argentina, the Royal Bachelors' Club in Gothenburg, Sweden, and the Australian Club.

Charlotina

The argument for the establishment of Charlotina first appeared that same year in a pamphlet entitled "The Expediency of Securing our American Colonies by Settling the Country Adjoining the River Mississippi, and the Country upon the Ohio, Considered', which was published in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Colin Lauder

Colin Lauder, (abt.1750 – d.25-Oct-1831, Worlds End Close, Edinburgh) was a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh FRCSE, and a Burgess 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.

Defence Science and Technology Organisation

1997 - ESRL complex rationalised and new "Knowledge Systems Building" in Edinburgh, South Australia, (the newly renamed part of Salisbury containing DSTO), officially opened.

Drummond Street

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

Edinburgh, Leith and Newhaven Railway

This was one of only two connections between the rival networks in Edinburgh (the other being at Haymarket) until the Caledonian's 1 August 1903 opening of the Leith New Lines from Newhaven to the east end of Leith docks.

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.

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.

Ekaterine Gabashvili

In 1958, a movie Magdanas lurja (Magdana’s Donkey), based on Gabashvili’s one of the most remarkable novels and directed by Tengiz Abuladze and Revaz Chkheidze, won prizes at the international film festivals at Cannes and Edinburgh.

Foxburg Country Club

After participating in a cricket match in Edinburgh, Scotland, Fox visited St. Andrews to see the game of golf being played.

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.

Hububb

The show was filmed and set in the Scottish Capital City, Edinburgh and the tower featured in the show was Melville Monument in St Andrew Square.

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.

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 Playfair

His son, William Henry Playfair (1790–1857), was also a celebrated architect, responsible for many of the buildings in Edinburgh’s New Town.

John Archibald Ballard

The Ballards were in Scotland for the birth of both their next two children: Brigadier General Colin Robert Ballard CB CMG on 22 July 1868 in Cockpen, Midlothian; and Joanna E, on 8 January 1870 in Portobello, Midlothian.

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 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.

Leith Harbour

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

Lizie Lindsay

A highland Laird courts Lizie Lindsay in Edinburgh, sometimes after his mother had warned him not to hide his highland origins.

Longmore House

Longmore House, formerly Longmore Hospital, on Salisbury Place, Newington, Edinburgh, is the headquarters of Historic Scotland.

Marc-André Raffalovich

He contributed greatly to the cost of St Peter's Church in Morningside, Edinburgh, of which Gray was appointed the first parish priest.

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.

Penfield railway line

The line then went north west and then turned north through Defence Science and Technology Organisation (DSTO) in Edinburgh.

Philip Palin

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

Portman Estate

The present grid layout of streets was established when the Estate was developed in the 18th Century and it is characterised by Georgian architecture, similar to Edinburgh's New Town.

Roderick Ross

He retired to Portobello, Edinburgh and died on 6 March 1943 after a short illness in a nursing home at 19 Great King Street, Edinburgh.

Silvermills

Mill lades serving the mills led from the Water of Leith at a point just north of Stockbridge, through the area and on to Canonmills Loch at Canonmills.

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.

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.

Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge

The earliest designs for the bridge were modeled after the Forth Bridge, near Edinburgh, which had been completed in 1890.


20 March 2003 anti-war protest

The Edinburgh demo saw 500 people at midday march to the foot of The Mound, the rally was addressed by MSPs Tommy Sheridan and Lloyd Quinan.

A Fictional Guide to Scotland

This reading tour visited places as far and wide as Wigtown, Ullapool, Inverness, Edinburgh, Stirling, Lanark and Glasgow and was supported by the Scottish Arts Council.

Andrew MacBeath

Andrew G W MacBeath, a Scottish preacher associated with the Keswick Convention, was younger brother of John MacBeath; studied at Edinburgh University, the Baptist College in Glasgow, and New College, Edinburgh.

Anne McIntosh

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

Bertrand M. Tipple

He was a delegate to the world convention of the YMCA at Robert College in Constantinople in 1911 and a delegate to the Ecumenical Conference in Edinburgh, 1913.

Bootham Crescent

The ground is located just over a mile away from York railway station, which lies on the East Coast Main Line between London's King's Cross station and Edinburgh's Waverley Station.

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.

Chuck Blair

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

Cordelia Fine

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

David Burn

He failed to qualify for a land grant returned to Edinburgh in 1829, divorcing his wife there.

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.

David Wilde

He has recorded for HMV, Decca Oiseau Lyre, Lyrita Saga and CRD, and now records exclusively for Delphian Records of Edinburgh, who have already issued a recordings of music by Dallapiccola, Busoni, and Liszt, Schumann and Brahms.

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 Cameron

Duncan Inglis Cameron (1927–2006), founding secretary of Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh

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.

Edward Albert Sharpey-Schafer

Following the move to Edinburgh, he commissioned the Scottish architect Robert Lorimer to design a substantial family house at the coastal town of North Berwick.

Fernando Screpis

Screpis signed a three-and-a-half-year deal with the Edinburgh club during a trial period in Austria in the summer of 2007, however it did not take effect until January 1, 2008, with Screpis agreeing to spend six months with Vladimir Romanov-sponsored FBK Kaunas before defecting to Scotland.

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.

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.

Gordon Castle

Eventually the commission fell to the lesser-known Edinburgh architect, John Baxter, who rebuilt it in 1769 for Alexander Gordon, 4th Duke of Gordon.

Guy Warrack

Guy Warrack (6 February 1900, Edinburgh - 12 February 1986, Englefield Green) was Scottish composer and conductor.

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.

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.

Joseph Ebsworth

In 1828 he opened an "English and foreign dramatic library and caricature repository" at 23 Elm Row, at the head of Leith Walk, Edinburgh, and for fifteen years maintained it successfully as the main bookseller's shop for periodical literature.

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.

Leaderfoot Viaduct

The viaduct was opened on 16 November 1863 to carry the Berwickshire Railway, which connected Reston (on the East Coast Main Line between Berwick-upon-Tweed and Edinburgh) with St Boswells (on the Edinburgh to Carlisle "Waverley Line"), via Duns and Greenlaw.

Liverpool poets

Other related poets include the Londoner Pete Brown (who wrote lyrics for Cream), Pete Morgan and Alan Jackson (both associated with the 1960s Edinburgh poetry scene), Tom Pickard and Barry MacSweeney (both from Newcastle), Spike Hawkins, Jim Bennett, Heather Holden, Mike Evans, Pete Roche and Henry Graham.

Louis Isaac Rabinowitz

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

Nick Doody

He has recently appeared on The World Stands Up for BBC America and Paramount in the UK, and on Edinburgh and Beyond, also for Paramount.

Nick Helm

His 2013 Edinburgh Fringe show, One Man Mega Myth, strongly referenced Evel Knievel and he was again nominated for Best Show in the Edinburgh Comedy Awards, losing out to Bridget Christie.

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

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.

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.

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.

Saira Elizabeth Luiza Shah

Her future husband, Sirdar Ikbal Ali Shah, who was descended from the Sadaat of Paghman, had settled in England before the first world war and she met him in Edinburgh during that war, where he was studying medicine at Edinburgh Medical School.

Stephen Maxwell

His friend Owen Dudley Edwards, an Irish-born Edinburgh historian, remembers his press briefings as unique: "Hostile journalists were staggered to hear him explain that their objections to this or that in the party were not really rewarding subjects but that a more useful question to raise would be this other."

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.

Stuart McQuarrie

McQuarrie trained at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama (RSAMD) in Glasgow and soon became a highly popular actor amongst Edinburgh theatre goers before moving to London where he has played prominent roles in more controversial, new dramas by playwrights such as Sarah Kane and Anthony Neilson, amongst others.

The Journal of Sir Walter Scott

John Guthrie Tait and W. M. Parker (eds.) The Journal of Sir Walter Scott in 3 volumes (Edinburgh: Oliver and Boyd, 1939-1946).

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.

Totally Jodie Marsh

Totally Jodie Marsh: Who'll Take Her Up the Aisle? was a British reality television show, which saw glamour model Jodie Marsh audition a potential husband in London, Edinburgh, Sheffield, Birmingham, Cardiff and Bournemouth.

Tyneview Park

The East Coast Main Line can be found to the east of the site also, with the Newcastle to Edinburgh stretch of the line.