Date |
Fact |
1900 |
The University of Birmingham receives its Royal Charter. |
1900 |
Florence Price becomes the first woman to matriculate and take a medical (MBChB) degree. |
1902 |
Sir William Ashley founds the Faculty of Commerce; the first of its kind in Britain leading to the establishment of the University's Business School; ranked as one of the best business schools in the world for its MBA teaching. |
1905 |
Sir Edward Elgar becomes the Peyton Professor of Music; he is succeeded in 1908 by his friend, Granville Bantock, who became instrumental in founding the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CBSO). |
1908 |
The Birmingham Law School is established. |
1909 |
The Aston Webb Building is officially opened by King Edward VII. |
1909 |
The 325-foot (100metre) clock tower nicknamed ‘Old Joe’ in honour of our founder Joseph Chamberlain, was completed; it is the tallest free-standing clock tower in the world. |
1914- 1918 |
The University’s Great Hall was used as the First Southern General Hospital during World War I contributing significantly to the 130,000 servicemen treated in Birmingham during the conflict. |
1922 |
Francis William Aston receives the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for inventing the Mass Spectrometer. |
1932 |
The University opens the Guild of Students building; one of the longest established students' unions in the UK. |
1937 |
Sir Norman Haworth receives the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work on carbohydrates and synthesising Vitamin C. |
1937 |
Lord Robert Cecil is awarded the Noble Peace Prize for his work in assisting in the establishment of the League of Nations. |
1939 |
The magnificent Barber Institute of Fine Arts, designed by Robert Atkinson, is opened; the publicly accessible collection of art contains works from artists as diverse as Van Gogh and Botticelli to Picasso and Magritte. |
1946 |
Sir Peter Scott founds the Severn Wildfowl Trust (later to become the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust) in 1946; he is knighted in 1973, the same year he becomes Chancellor of the University of Birmingham. |
1946 |
Birmingham offers the first ever sports-based degree. |
1947 |
The School of Education is established; it is now one of the largest schools of education in the UK contributing significantly to the lives of thousands of school children locally and nationally every year. |
1949 |
Birmingham-born Dame Hilda Rose becomes the first female professor of the University's Medical School. |