Salford Firsts Links

1806 - The Philips and Lee factory and a portion of Chapel Street boasted the first use of street gas lighting in the world.

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Robert Powell was born 1st June 1944 in Salford. An actor best known for the title role in 'Mahler' and 'Jesus of Nazareth'. He also played Richard Hannay in 'The 39 Steps'.

The man credited with saving Manchester United from financial ruin.

Built in 1907 and named after William Caxton, inventor of the printing press.

Salford has long been an innovative and inspirational city with its wealth of history and world firsts. Rodgers uses the horse to embody Salford's relationship with the first horse drawn bus service; the underground colliery and canal systems; and the first horse drawn tramway.

"The Rialto Cinema, Higher Broughton - my glorious alma mater!"

Key dates in Salford's history

The Tangent Galvanometer was a device used by Joules to measure electric currents.

William Webb Ellis was born in Salford on 24th November 1806. Ellis had a disregard for the rules of football and first took the ball in his arms and ran with it in 1823, thus creating the distinctive feature of the Rugby game.

1846 - Built on the Lark Hill estate, Peel Park in Salford was one of the first free public parks established by public conscription.

Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels spent time in Salford studying the plight of the British working class. In 1842, Engels was sent to Salford by his parents to work for a mill making sewing threads. In 1845, Engels published his book, 'The Condition of the Working Class in England' where he described Salford and Chapel Street as, "really one large working class quarter".

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1850 - The first public free lending library opens as 'Salford Borough Library' on the Crescent.

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The coat of arms - Integrity and Industry

Lead vocalist of 'The Salford Jets' - "Salford made me who I am."

Iconic frontman of 'The Fall' producing hits such as 'Turn Up The Music' and 'I wake up in the City'.

"Brevity is beautiful and so is Salford."

Born in New Bailey Street in 1818, Joule became a notable physicist who established the principles of the mechanical equivalent of heat. His name was given to the unit of energy, the Joule. He later moved to Acton Square.

1758 - The very first steamboat was built in Worsley. 1760 - The first major canal and underground colliery was built. 1761 - The Bridgewater Canal opened: the first totally artificial waterway independent of natural rivers. 1893 - The first swing aqueduct was built at Barton.

Textile processing was alive in Salford some 700 years before the Industrial Revolution; however, the River Irwell and established trading infrastructure allowed Salford to boom. The bush roller chain was invented and produced in Ordsall and the Philips and Lee Twist Mill was one of the first factories to be built in Salford.

Salford Lads Club opened in 1904 as a purpose built club for boys. Allan Clarke and Graham Nash grew up in Salford and were members, later forming the rock group 'The Hollies'.

The hundred of Salford was one of the six hundreds of Lancashire, also known as the Royal Manor of Salford.

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The horse, Louis O'Grady, is the inspiration behind the sculpture and his name is incorporated into the bridle on the bronze.

The first horse drawn bus service went from Pendleton to Manchester in 1842.

In 1877 the first horse drawn tramway in Greater Manchester went between Bury New Road in Salford to Deansgate in Manchester.

Fondly called the 'Bard of Salford', Clarke is the original punk poet who rose to fame in the 1970s.

Peter Hook was born in Broughton, Salford in 1956. He attended Salford Grammar School and formed the band which were to become 'Joy Division', later reforming as 'New Order' following the death of the lead singer. He is currently the lead singer and bassist of 'Peter Hook and the Light'.

Albert Finney loved to go back to Salford - "It's just part of you. It's in the blood really."

Graham William Nash was born in 1942 in Blackpool. During World War II, his mother was evacuated there from their home town of Salford. The family returned to Salford, where Nash grew up. In the early 1960s, he co- founded the Hollies, one of the UKs most successful pop group, with school friend Allan Clarke, and was credited as the group's leader on their first album.

1850 - The first beam of electricity shone from the roof of Buile Hill in an experiment by William Edwards Staite.

Helen Walsh, winner of the Somerset Maugham Award -
“That voice just punched him bang in the heart - fresh, fraught, wise and wistful. He laughed and shook his head at the comic aptness of the lyrics - yet there was so much of himself, all his own sorrow and loneliness wrapped up in those bittersweet couplets that his laughter gave way to tears.”

Born on 13th May 1941 in Rusholme, Key is a renowned painter and sculptor in collections worldwide. Key became honorary President of The Salford Art Club and is widely considered to be one of the UKs most important contemporary artists. His strong, dynamic figures and dream like compositions have earned him many admirers. Key's work features in several public art collections in the northwest of England, including the Salford and Manchester Art Galleries, who now hold over 70 of his works.

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Factory Records was founded by Tony Wilson and Alan Erasmus in 1978 and was a Manchester based British independent record label boasting artists such as Happy Mondays, Joy Division and James.

Sir John Moores was born in Eccles on 25th January 1896. He was an astute businessman and founded the Littlewoods empire (football pools and retail company). Liverpool Polytechnic took the name 'Liverpool John Moores University' in his honour upon being granted University status in 1992.

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Coronation Street is set in the fictional town of Weatherfield based on inner city Salford. The first episode was broadcast live in black and white in December 1960.

Harold Allan Clarke was born in Salford in 1942 and is best known for co-founding the pop rock group 'The Hollies' with Graham Nash.

Sir Ben Kingsley was born Krishna Pandit Bhanji in 1943. He is a British actor and is most known for starring as Mohandas Gandhi in the film 'Gandhi' in 1982.