England
Things you probably didn't know about Oxford
The city of dreaming spires, dons and detectives.
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1096 — fact 1 of 4
The oldest university in the English-speaking world
Teaching existed at Oxford by 1096; today "Oxford time" still runs five minutes late for some lectures.
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1865 — fact 2 of 4
Alice was invented here
Lewis Carroll told Alice Liddell, the dean’s daughter, the stories that became Alice in Wonderland on river picnics from Christ Church.
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1933 — fact 3 of 4
Tolkien and Lewis argued here
The Inklings — including J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis — met in Oxford pubs to read out their unfinished masterpieces.
See what 1933 was like → -
1987 — fact 4 of 4
Inspector Morse’s city
Colin Dexter’s detective made Oxford’s colleges a TV fixture from 1987, and boosted tourism for decades.
See what 1987 was like →
Our Oxford collection is part of a growing local-history library — more cities and facts are being added.