Scotland
Things you probably didn't know about Aberdeen
The granite city that sparkles when it rains.
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Fact 1 of 4
Built from silver-grey granite
Aberdeen’s buildings were quarried locally; mica in the stone makes the city genuinely sparkle in sunlight after rain.
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1970 — fact 2 of 4
Europe’s oil capital
From the 1970s North Sea boom, Aberdeen became the service port for one of the world’s great oil provinces.
See what 1970 was like → -
1906 — fact 3 of 4
One of the world’s largest granite buildings
Marischal College, in the city centre, is second in granite size only to the Escorial in Spain.
See what 1906 was like → -
1835 — fact 4 of 4
Aberdeen Angus
The world-famous beef breed takes its name from the region’s cattle, documented back to the early 19th century.
Our Aberdeen collection is part of a growing local-history library — more cities and facts are being added.