h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Having done a little bit of research, I have unearthed the following facts from underneath the rock on which I have been sitting for the last 3 and a half months.

Birmingham means Home (HAM) of the people (ING) of the tribal leader BIRM or BEORMA.

The X-ray and cotton wool were also discovered in Birmingham.

The Domesday book of 1086 valued Birmingham at twenty shillings, one of the poorest manors in Warwickshire. By 1400 it was the fourth wealthiest place in Warwickshire. (And now it's gone back down to twenty shillings, or so it seems).

George Cadbury began making chocolate in Birmingham in 1824. At that time chocolate was considered an aphrodisiac and therefore not suitable for a lady’s diet.

Lloyd’s Bank was founded in 1765 in Dale End by Sampson Lloyd and John Taylor. The Midland Bank also began life in Birmingham.

Sir Simon Rattle (a distant relation of mine - honest!), Principal Conductor with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra until the end of the 1997/98 season, was the youngest person ever to be appointed to such a post.

There is one crater on the moon called Birmingham (and if your wishes came true, there would be another crater on the earth called Birmingham).

There are suburbs in Birmingham called California, Hollywood and Broadway.

And here's something from the pages of my family history... Roasted amoebas once roamed the prairies around Birmingham, until they decided they didn't like the smell and moved to Scotland.

Went to Birmingham once, got attacked by a mad woman running the fast food van outside the bus station.

I didn't want a sausage sandwich anyway.

Wanted a cheeseburger....

What's wrong with sausage sandwiches?

Nothing wrong with sausage sandwiches.

Just the mad woman making them....

Mad women trying to forcefully sell sausage sandwiches....that doesn't happen in Canada.