Famous for the University of Cambridge (the oldest in the world), the city itself steeped has a long and rich history.
Curious Fact 1: Football rules
The “Cambridge Rules” were created at the University in 1863, and influenced the Football Association’s original rules. The rules included banning carrying the ball as well as “hacking” (kicking in the shins) for the first time.
Curious Fact 2: University tradition
Some of the rules at University of Cambridge reflect its 800 year history. Did you know that students have to “keep the term”, which means that they have to stay within a three-mile radius of Great St. Mary’s Church for 59 nights each term.
Curious Fact 3: Bear Facts
Aristocrat and poet Lord Byron studied at Cambridge in the early 1800s. He wanted to keep a pet dog in his university rooms, but this was against the rules so he brought a bear instead.
Curious Fact 4: Status Quad
In architecture, quads are courtyards surrounded by buildings. They’re closely associated with universities and colleges, and are a feature of campuses worldwide, from Harvard to Oxford. But not at Cambridge. Cambridge has courts. Because they could.
Curious Fact 5: Tech Centre
It’s estimated that 18% of the UK’s computer gaming industry is based just in Cambridge, alongside a host of other science and tech companies – some of them valued in the billion-dollar region.
Curious Fact 6: Nobel Prize
Cambridge University has produced 89 Nobel Prize winners in no less than six different disciplines, physics, peace, chemistry, medicine, literature and physiology.
Curious Fact 7: Bicycles
Approximately 25% of people who live in Cambridge cycle to work, the highest percentage in the UK.
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