England
Things you probably didn't know about Cambridge
Where the secret of life was discovered in a pub.
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1209 — fact 1 of 4
The university fled rioters here
Cambridge University began in 1209 when scholars fled hostile townsfolk in Oxford.
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1953 — fact 2 of 4
The secret of life, announced at the Eagle
In 1953, Francis Crick walked into the Eagle pub and told regulars he and James Watson had "found the secret of life" — the structure of DNA.
See what 1953 was like → -
1661 — fact 3 of 4
Newton walked these courts
Isaac Newton studied and taught at Trinity College, where the apple story — possibly true — began.
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1978 — fact 4 of 4
Silicon Fen
Cambridge’s science park and spinouts — from Acorn (makers of the BBC Micro and ARM) onward — built a tech cluster around a university town.
See what 1978 was like →
Our Cambridge collection is part of a growing local-history library — more cities and facts are being added.