Trivia
Comedy
Goodies – the zany cult TV programme
Graeme Garden TV Personality and one of the Goodies from the TV series, comes from Aberdeen.
Beef
Aberdeen Angus -– the name for prime beef the world over
Aberdeen Angus (known as Black Angus in America) is known the world over as one of the best beef breeds of cattle.
2nd Biggest
Second biggest granite building in the world
Marischal College, which is being renovated to provide new offices for Aberdeen City Council, is the second largest granite building in the world.
Rifle
Breach Loading Rifle
The breach-loading rifle was invented by Aberdeenshire man Patrick Ferguson.
Tyres
The pneumatic tyre
The pneumatic tyre was invented by Robert Thomson of Stonehaven in 1845.
Mashable
Pete Cashmore – who was brought up in Banchory, Aberdeenshire – founded Mashable in Aberdeen in 2005. It is now one of the Technorati 'top 10' blogs in the world.
MRI
MRI scanner invented in Aberdeen
The MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) scanner was invented in Aberdeen, by a University of Aberdeen team headed by Prof John Mallard.
Tropical medicine
The so-called "Godfather of tropical medicine" Sir Patrick Manson was born in Old Meldrum in 1844. It was his work that led to the discovery that Malaya was spread by mosquitoes.
Lord Byron
Lord Byron, the poet, was a pupil at Aberdeen Grammar School in the 18th century.
Annie Lennox
Singer, Annie Lennox was born and brought up in Aberdeen and is a former pupil of Aberdeen High School (now Harlaw Academy).
Emile Sande
Singer Emile Sande was brought up in Alford. She wrote her first song while at school in the Aberdeenshire town.
Prime Minister
Ramsay Macdonald, British Prime Minister 1924-35, was born in Lossiemouth.
Shipbuilding
The clipper Thermopylae, owned by Aberdeen's White Star Line and launched in Aberdeen in 1868, sailed to Melbourne in just 60 days, breaking records on each leg of the journey.
The Cutty Sark was built the following year to compete with Thermopylae in bringing back the new season's tea from China. The Cutty Sark was twice beaten by Thermopylae.
Denis Law
Aberdonian Denis Law scored 237 goals in 409 appearances for Manchester United and won the European Footballer of the Year award in 1964.
Paul Lawrie
Aberdeen-born and bed, Paul Lawrie was the winner of the 128th Open Golf Championship at Carnousite in 1999
Engineering
Leading the world in rice, cocoa and coffee plantation machinery
William MacKinnon & Son of Aberdeen were leading manufacturers of race coffee and cocoa plantation machinery for the global market.
Granite
Aberdeen granite
As well as many of Aberdeen's famous granite buildings, the city's granite famously was used in constructing Waterloo Bridge in London, the terrace of the Houses of Parliament in London, and the Forth Bridge.
Quarry
The biggest man-made hole in Europe
Rubislaw Quarry in Aberdeen, was where much of the granite for the city and further afield was quarried. It is said to be the largest man-made hole in Europe, now filled with water and ringed with oil industry offices.
Japan
Thomas Blake Glover: Shaping modern Japan
Thomas Blake Glover, born in Fraserburgh and later living in Aberdeen, is credited as the founder of industrialised Japan, where he is a national hero. His house in Nagasaki is one of Japan's most popular tourist attractions.
Glover founded his own shipyard in Japan, which went on to become Mitsubishi. He retained strong links with Aberdeen shipyard and apprentices were sent to the city from Japan to learn.
He was responsible for commissioning the Jo Sho Maru, Hosho Maru and Kagoshima from Aberdeen shipyard Alexander Hall and Co.
He also introduced the first locomotive into Japan and established the first modern coal mine.
Iron lung
The first "iron lung", which provided support for those with breathing problems, was designed and built by Robert Henderson and the engineer at Aberdeen City Hospital in 1933.
Buick
David Buick, founder of the American automobile company of the same name, came from Arbroath.
Dracula
Slains Castle, near Cruden Bay (then known as Port Errol), is said to have inspired Bram Stoker in writing Dracula.
Evelyn Glennie
Virtuoso percussionist, Evenlyn Glennie, who has been profoundly deaf since the age of 12, was born and brought up on a farm in Aberdeenshire.
Sandi Thom
Born in Banff, Sandi Thom formed her first band when she was at Robert Gordon's College in Aberdeen.
Crombie
The cloth that clothed the the backs of the world's superpowers. The famous Crombie cloth, woven in Aberdeen, was famously worn by American presidents and Russia's politburo.
Football
Football invented in Aberdeen?That's what a 17th-century book suggests.
It's said that the first written evidence of a game where the ball is passed from player to player to score goals past the goalkeeper appears in a book from Aberdeen dated 1633.
Jim Clark
Jim Clark, Scotland's twice world champion racing driver and one of the greatest racing drivers ever, began his motor racing career at an Aberdeeen and District Motor Club event on the Crimond race track near Fraserburgh.
David Carry
Aberdeen's David Carry is a member of the British Olympic swimming squad and is also aCommonwealth Games gold medallist.
Universities
Aberdeen had two universities at the time when there were only two in the whole of England.
Any trivia for us to add to this page? Email editor@aberdeen-info.co.uk