1. Hull has cream coloured telephone boxes instead of the traditional red because Hull's boxes were run by a different company - Hull Corporation Phone Department, now KCOM - they were cream to highlight their independence from England's public phone network. |
2. Hull is home to the largest Yorkshire Pudding Factory in the UK, Aunt Bessie’s - producing 500 million frozen Yorkshire puddings every year. |
3. Amy Johnson, the first female pilot to fly alone from Britain to Australia, was born in Hull on 1 July 1903.
If you are interested in flying to Hull for this year's Annual Conference, the closest airport is Humberside Airport.
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4. Hull’s ‘The George’ pub in ‘The Land of Green Ginger’ is home to England’s smallest window. |
5. Hull's award winning aquarium, The Deep, is home to a variety of spectacular marine life including sharks, stingrays, the UK’s only pair of green sawfish, hundreds of tropical reef fish, Loggerhead sea turtles and a colony of Gentoo penguins. We’re rather taken with its novel idea for marking a special anniversary. |
6. Hull was named the city with the highest proportion of snorers in 2002 - of course this was a long time ago and you certainly won't be snoring in May during the Annual Conference! |
7. A plaque in Hull's Queen's Gardens marks the Queen's Dock of Hull as the departure point of fictional castaway, Robinson Crusoe. See if you can find the plaque when you’re in Hull for the The Society for Radiological Protection Annual Conference in May. |
8. Enjoyed by millions of people across the world, the boiled sweet was born in Hull. Sweet manufacturer, Needlers, founded in Hull in the 19th century, was the first to produce the confectionery. The photo shows women working in the Needler's factory in 1971. And yes, our The Society for Radiological Protection sweets will definitely be available at the Conference! |
9. Between 1981 and 1998, the Humber Bridge was the world's longest single-span suspension bridge. It is currently the twelfth longest in the world. |
10. Well not such a fun fact but a fact - during the Second World War, Hull became the second most bombed city with 90% of its buildings destroyed. Bullet holes can still be seen on some buildings throughout the city. Hull definitely has a lot of history!
Promoting cities, and their history, that we hold events in is important so delegates know what else they can do whilst away from home - especially if their partners or children accompany them.
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11. Hull is the origin of the pattie - the deep-fried disc of mashed potato is a homage to the city's food processing history and decades of hungry workers who needed feeding. Though much of Hull's once thriving fishing industry has sadly depleted, its fish and chip shops remain abundant and, within them, Hull patties are decades-old favourites. Why not visit a fish and chip shop whilst in Hull and try it out!
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12. Hull-born mathematician, logcian and philosopher, John Venn, was born in Hull in 1834. John's major achievement was to find a way to visualise a mathematical area called set theory. From Swiss mathematician, Leonard Euler's diagrams, he went on to develop his famous Venn diagrams. |
13. Hull's Fun Fair is one of the largest travelling fairs in Europe. Last year it celebrated running for 730 years. For any fun fair enthusiasts, you'll have to visit Hull again as the fair this year visits from 10 – 18 October.
We think that this photo is incredible - we've never seen such a big fun fair before!
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14. Lorenzo's Oil, a lifesaving treatment and inspiration for the film of the same name, was manufactured in Hull by Croda Universal. The Hull born biochemist who worked here, Don Soddaby, synthesized the pure oil and appeared in the Oscar-nominated film. His heroic work is remembered in Hull with a plaque and a street named after him, Suddaby Close, near Southcoates Avenue in east Hull. It adjoins Lorenzo Way, in tribute to the boy who he was inspired to help. At the time, Lorenzo's Oil was believed to have halted the progression of Adrenoleukodystrophy in children, which is a rare and inherited metabolic disorder, but its use today is controversial due to a lack of agreement on its effectiveness in medical trials. According to Great Ormond Street Hospital, Lorenzo’s oil can "probably slow down (but, sadly, not halt) the progression of symptoms if used from before or soon after symptoms develop". |
15. Hull has one of the most 'instagrammable' street - Prince Street. This is just one of the many photos that can be found on the internet....there is a lovely little archway at the top of the street as well; definitely worth a visit whilst in Hull for the Annual Conference. |
16. The LCD screen was invented at the University of Hull. In 1973, Prof George Gray revealed his major breakthrough that enabled liquid crystal displays to be used commercially, paving the way for the screen technology we know today from TV screens to the smartphone in your pocket.
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