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Main article: History of Birmingham
The Birmingham area was occupied in Roman times, with several millitary roads and a large fort. Birmingham started life as a small Saxon hamlet in the dark ages. And was first recorded in written documents by the Domesday Book of 1086 as a small village.
From the 12th century onwards Birmingham developed into a market centre. And by the 17th century had become an important manufacturing town with a reputation for producing small arms. Birmingham manufacturers supplied Oliver Cromwell's forces with much of their weaponry during the English Civil War.
During the Industrial Revolution from the mid 18th century onwards, because of abundant nearby sources of coal and iron ore and a skilled workforce, Birmingham grew into a major industrial centre. Birmingham became a centre of the British canal and later railway networks in the early 19th century.
In Victorian times, the population of the city grew rapidly to well over half a million and Birmingham became the second largest population centre in Britain, it became known as the "City of a thousand trades" due to the wide variety of manufacturing industries located there. Birmingham gained city status in 1889.
Birmingham suffered heavy bomb damage during World War II, and partly as a result of this the city was extensively re-developed during the 1950s and 1960s with many concrete office buildings, ringroads, and now much-derided pedestrian subways, as a result Birmingham gained a reputation for ugliness, frequently being described as a "concrete jungle".
However, in recent years the city centre has been extensively renovated and restored with the construction of new squares, the restoration of old streets, buildings and canals, and the removal of much-derided pedestrian subways.
Although manufacturing has declined in recent decades it still remains important to the city - over 25% of UK exports originate in the greater Birmingham area. The main products from Birmingham include: Motor vehicles, vehicle components and accessories, weapons, electrical equipment, plastics, machine tools, chemicals, food, jewellery and glass.
In recent years Birmingham's economy has diversified into service industries, retailing and tourism, which are now the main employers in the city. More details about the Birmingham economy.
The Industrial Revolution flourished in Birmingham and the surrounding Midlands towns, allowing many factories, foundries and businesses, including sword, gun and pistol manufacturers, watchmakers, jewellers, goldsmiths, attorneys, physicians, surgeons, apothecaries and chemists to prosper.
The city's workmen designed and constructed railway carriages, steam engines, and even - unusually for somewhere so far from the sea - ships, which were made as pre-fabricated sections, then assembled at the coast.
Famous brands from the " city of a thousand trades" include Bird's Custard, Typhoo Tea , Brylcreem, Chad Valley Toys, BSA, Bakelite and the Birmingham Wire Gauge .
Lloyds Bank (now Lloyds TSB) began here in 1765 and The Midland Bank (now part of HSBC) opened in Union Street, in August 1836. Until 2003, coins were manufactured at the Birmingham Mint, the oldest independent mint in the world.
Breweries Ansells , Davenports and Mitchells & Butlers had their origins in Birmingham, as do Cadburys chocolate, HP Sauce and the MG Rover Group. The motor and transport industries have played a significant role in Birminghams economy. The Motor Show takes place every other year, at the National Exhibition Centre, and in 2003 was moved to May from the usual October.
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