It’s not hard to find out the easy stuff about Aberdeen, but there is a load of things that our city has up its sleeve that many of us, even those born and bred here, might not know…
For example, here are ten of my favourite facts about our area:
- Water Polo was invented on the river Dee in 1863.
- Aberdeenshire and Aberdeen City have 52 golf clubs, enough to let you play a different one every week of the year (weather permitting of course!).
- Robert Louis Stevenson wrote Treasure Island while he was at Balmoral in 1881.
- It was an Aberdonian shoemaker who was the first person to put rubber heels on shoes.
- John Weir of Aberdeen was the first person to put salmon in a tin can.
- The first motorised fire engine was bought in Aberdeen in 1905.
- Robert Gordon University launched the UK’s first ever course in AI and Robotics (sorry, we had to get that one in!)
- Craigievar Castle was the model for the fairytale castles created by Walt Disney.
- Aberdeen FC is the only Scottish club to win two European trophies (the European Cup Winners Cup and the European Super Cup – but we suspect you might have known that one!).
- Robert Burns, Scotland’s national bard, more commonly associated with Ayrshire and Dumfrieshire, actually had his antecedents in the Mearns: his father moved to Ayr from the North-East.
Julie Skinner, Resourcing and Benefits Specialist, RGU