1. The first traffic lights in Cambridge were put up at the Castle Street/ Northampton Street junction in 1929.
2. The Kite area in Cambridge got its name because if you look at it on a map it's shaped like a kite.
3. The first bank opened in Cambridge in 1780.
4. Mitcham's Corner on the junction of Chesterton Road and Victoria Avenue got its name from Mitcham's shop which traded there until 1977.
5. The singer and actress Olivia Newton John, who played Sandy in the film 'Grease' was born in Cambridge on 26 September 1948. She lived here until she was five, when her family emigrated to Australia.
6. The clock of Great St. Mary's Church chimes a tune which was specially written by Reverend Dr Joseph Jowett in 1793, and later copied for Big Ben in London
7. Cambridge was granted its city charter in 1951 even though it does not have a cathedral, which is usually a prerequisite for city status.
8. The name of the Grafton Centre comes from former UK Prime Minster Augustus Henry Fitzroy, 3rd Duke of Grafton (28 September 1735 - 14 March 1811)
He was one of a handful of dukes who served as Prime Minster and was in office from 14 October 1768 - 28 January 1770. His name is also given to Fitzroy Street.
9. Parker's Piece was named after Edward Parker in 1613 after it was exchanged by Trinity College with the town of Cambridge to be used as common pasture. Edward Parker was a college cook, who obtained the rights to farm on its land.
10. The Central Hotel in Peas Hill is where Samuel Pepys is thought to have stay after a heavy drinking session in 1660. It was a listed building, but this didn't stop it getting demolished in the late 1950s.
11. When Bryon became a student at Trinity College in October 1805 he was annoyed that rules kept him from keeping a dog, so he got himself a tame bear, arguing that there was no mention that he was not allowed one. The college authorities had no legal basis to complain, and the bear stayed with him until he graduated.
12. The railway station in Cambridge is believed to have been designed by Sancton Wood and Francis Thompson and opened in 1845.
13. The first newspapers for Cambridge started in 1744 and were called the Cambridge Journal and Weekly Flying Post. Over 144 years later in 1888 the first daily paper called the Cambridge Daily News began.
14. On 28 February 1953 Francis Crick and James Watson announced their discovery of how DNA carries genetic information in The Eagle Public House on Bene't Street.
15. The first street to have cobbles in Cambridge was Petty Cury and this new look was unveiled on the evening of 25 October 1788.The street has since seen many changes and redevelopment.
16. King Street was originally called Wall Lane because it’s said Sidney Sussex College and Christ's College had their boundaries on the street.
17. Ortona Buses in Cambridge, which ran from August 1907 to July 1931 got their name from a cruise ship owner James Berry Walford had seen.
18. Cambridge's first shopping arcade, Bradwells Court opened in 1961 on land next to Drummer Street bus station and remained there until 2006 when the area was redeveloped.
19. William the Conqueror visited Cambridge, or Grantabridge as it was known in 1068 and ordered one of three castles across the East of England to be built there in the aftermath of his northern campaign to capture York. It was decided because Cambridge was on one of the old Roman routes from London to York and could prove to be strategically significant and at the risk of rebellion.
20. The Cambridge Carrier Thomas Hobson (1544 - 1631) is the name behind the expression 'Hobson's Choice' which is a free choice in which only one option is offered. As a person may refuse to take that option, the choice is therefore between taking the option or not: "Take it or leave it".
The expression originated from Thomas Hobson, a stable owner in Cambridge. To rotate the use of his horses, he offered customers the choice of either taking the horse in the stall nearest to the door or take none at all.
21. The area where Mill Road now stands was once nothing but open fields and the only noted landmark was a windmill which stood roughly opposite Emery Street. Mill Road got its name from that windmill.
