This week in 1846 John Owens died. He left approx £100,000 to form Owens College, the founding college of The Victoria University of Manchester. He is buried in St John’s Gardens.

19 July 1830 Architect Alfred Waterhouse was born. He designed Manchester Town Hall, Strangeways Prison, Manchester Museum, buildings of the University of Manchester, The Refuge Assurance Building, @nhm-london.bsky.social and much more.

This week in 1969, just before the first moon landing, Manchester Astronomical Society at the city centre’s Godlee Observatory telegrammed NASA, warning of bright light in a crater on the moon. The message was relayed to the Apollo 11 crew who confirmed seeing the phenomenon.

17 July 1934 King George V officially opened Central Library, Manchester. The King struggled to open the door with a golden key – the architect and staff had to force the door open. Local children were given handkerchiefs stating words ‘knowledge is power’

This week in 1761 the Bridgewater Canal opened, to bring coal from Worsley to Manchester. Often referred to as the first modern canal in Britain, it used no existing waterways. Engineer James Brindley used a model made of cheese when proposing one aspect, the Barton Aqueduct.

14 July 1858 Emmeline Pankhurst, born in Manchester, claimed this (Bastille Day) as her birthday, although her birth certificate states the following day. She founded the militant suffrage group, WSPU, which employed increasingly violent tactics such as bombs and arson attacks.

9 July 2009 Elbow and the Halle Orchestra collaborated at the Bridgewater Hall Manchester for the Manchester International Festival, with a screening in Castlefield.

7 July 1769 St John’s Church Manchester was consecrated. The gothic building and its graveyard occupied what is now St John’s Gardens. John Owens is buried here. He left nearly £100k in his will to form Owens College, a founding college of Manchester University.

29 June 1882 Joseph Aloysius Hansom died. Architect of the Church of the Holy Name, Manchester, he also designed the Hansom cab.

CW: maternal mortality 24 June 1799 Elizabeth Thompson had a caesarean at Manchester Lying-in Hospital (St Mary’s). Her son survived but she died days later to outrage in the town that the ‘Man-midwife in Ordinary’ (surgeon) had murdered her.

23 June 1912 Codebreaker and computer pioneer Alan Turing was born. 23 June 2001 Turing’s birthday was marked with the unveiling of a seated statue in Sackville Gardens, Manchester. A computer is buried underneath the statue.

31 May 1843 Enriqueta Rylands was born. Wife of cotton millionaire John Rylands, she founded Manchester library @thejohnrylands.bsky.social. She was the first woman to be awarded the Freedom of the City of Manchester.

23 May 1795 Architect Charles Barry was born. He designed the buildings of Manchester Art Gallery, and, along with Augustus Pugin, the Houses of Parliament. Photo of Barry’s Manchester Athenaeum building, now part of Manchester Art Gallery.

7 May 1844 The Theatre Royal, Fountain Street, Manchester, was destroyed by fire. It was rebuilt near the Free Trade Hall on Peter Street where its building later became the home of nightclub Discotheque Royale (Royales).

This week in 1868 architect Alfred Waterhouse’s designs for the new Manchester Town Hall were formally adopted by the City Council.

CW: suicide 31 March 1952 Codebreaker and computer pioneer Alan Turing went on trial on gross indecency (homosexuality) charges. He was sentenced to hormone ‘treatment’. His death two years later at his Wilmslow home was ruled a suicide.

27 March 1863 Engineer Henry Royce was born. He developed a motor car and collaborated with Charles Rolls to found Rolls-Royce, manufacturing vehicles initially in Hulme, Manchester. A sculpture in Hulme Park of a Rolls-Royce radiator grille marks the site.

8 March 1803 Francis Egerton, Duke of Bridgewater, died. Disappointed in love, he concentrated his efforts on building the Bridgewater Canal to bring coal from Worsley to Manchester. Referred to as Britain's first modern canal, it used no existing waterways.

14 February 1868 Architect Alfred Waterhouse submitted his successful ‘St Valentine’ design in the competition to build Manchester Town Hall. This design, later changed further, revised and improved a rushed first submission, including replacing the clock tower dome with a spire.

9 February 1863 A ship of food arrived in Liverpool, sent by Abraham Lincoln for those enduring the Lancashire cotton famine. The relief was sent in recognition of the suffering of Manchester workers, who had pledged support to Lincoln urging ‘a complete uprooting of slavery’.

6 February 1958 A plane carrying the MUFC team crashed on take-off in Munich, with 23 fatalities including players, staff and journalists. Photo: former St George’s Church, Chester Rd, facing towards Old Trafford with clock set to 3.04, the time of the crash. See @garyjames.bsky.social article below

4 February 1908 Enriqueta Rylands died. In her husband’s memory she had founded John Rylands Library, Deansgate, Manchester @thejohnrylands.bsky.social. She was the first woman to be awarded the Freedom of the City of Manchester.

This week in 1875 Manchester-born Joseph Henry Blackburne, a celebrated chess player nicknamed ‘The Black Death’, played blindfolded against 10 members of Manchester Athenæum’s Chess Club. He lost a game, won 5 and 4 were drawn. The Athenæum building is now part of Manchester Art Gallery.

This week in 1875 the ball on the top of Manchester Town Hall clock tower was put in position. The gilt ball represents a cotton boll, shining over Cottonopolis. The ball is 79 cm in diameter, and its 29 spikes are each 17 cm long.

29 November 1745 Bonnie Prince Charlie and his troops entered Manchester, and recruited 300 men for his rebellion to reclaim the throne for his father. Artillery Street marks the site of his gun park. Two Grade II listed bollards stand nearby, created from inverted cannons.

28 November 1820 Friedrich Engels was born. Living in Manchester for more than 20 years, he documented the living conditions of its workers. With Karl Marx he studied books at @chethamslibrary.bsky.social, before they wrote the Communist Manifesto. Image – statue from Ukraine, now near HOME Mcr.

27 November 1822 Old Billy, a horse said to have been the world’s oldest, died aged 62. His skull remains in Manchester Museum.

26 November 1867 ‘Mistakenly’ included on an electoral roll (being a ratepayer), Manchester shopkeeper Lily Maxwell cast a vote in a by-election, some 50 years before (some) women were enfranchised by the Representation of the People Act.

24 November 1806 William Webb Ellis was born in Salford. He was baptised at Sacred Trinity Church, Salford. The story of his invention of rugby is refuted but the Rugby World Cup trophy is named after him. Images – Salford Firsts sculpture by Emma Rodgers, Chapel St Salford, featuring rugby ball

This week in 1849 author of ‘The Secret Garden’, Frances Hodgson Burnett was born in Cheetham Hill, Manchester. Image – postbox in Albert Square decorated to honour her for World Book Day 2019.