This report is from the Science Museum

DID you know that Manchester was the world’s first industrial city and the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution?

In the early 19th century, the extraordinary growth of Manchester’s cotton industry meant the city got bigger and became the heart of a global network of manufacturing and trade.

From its towering mills, bustling warehouses and crowded streets came new ways to live, work and think, which transformed lives in Manchester and across the world.

Fast forward to the 20th century and the world’s first stored-program computer was built at the University of Manchester. Nicknamed Baby, this computer was the first step towards life as we know it and the technology we all use today, with modern computers still building on Baby’s basic principles.

Find out about Manchester’s revolutionary past, present and future at the Science and Industry Museum, which reopens on Friday 14 August, or visit www.scienceandindustrymuseum.org.uk.