Things you didn't know about... the West Midlands

The earth moves in the West Midlands

The West Midlands is not only at risk of earthquakes, arising from the Birmingham fault that runs diagonally through the city, but it has also suffered several tornadoes. The last occurred on 28 July 2005 and injured 19 people, three seriously.

Why they called it the Black Country

The Black Country in the West Midlands is popularly believed to get its name from the heavy industries that covered the area in soot. Historians have since suggested, however, that the name came from the natural landscape, where coal could be found just beneath the surface of the heath.

The West Midlands, cradle of pop legends

Bands such as Black Sabbath, Dexy's Midnight Runners, Duran Duran, UB40 (Birmingham) and Slade (Walsall and Wolverhampton) all started their careers in the West Midlands.

It's a funny old place, the West Midlands...

Comedian Lenny Henry was born in the West Midlands town of Dudley. Other famous West Midlands comedians include Frank Skinner, Jasper Carrott and Tony Hancock.

The West Midlands spawned a cinematic empire

The world's first Odeon cinema was opened by Oscar Deutsch in 1928 in Brierley Hill, West Midlands. Today, Odeon is officially the largest cinema chain in Europe.

The West Midlands has always been home to the motor industry

Pioneering engineer Frederick W Lanchester built the first ever four-wheel petrol-driven car in Birmingham in 1895.

The West Midlands' holy wartime sacrifice

Coventry was the only British city to lose a cathedral in World War II, when the Luftwaffe bombed the West Midlands city on 14 April 1940.

Bicycles were born in the West Midlands

In 1870, James Starley and William Hillman made the first ever British bicycle. Called the Ariel, it was the first attempt at making a lightweight all-metal machine, and made the West Midlands the UK's main centre for cycle production well into the 20th century.

What Tom peeped at in the West Midlands

It was in the city of Coventry that Lady Godiva was believed to have ridden through the streets, "clad in naught but her long tresses". She did this, according to the legend, to get her husband to undo a punitive tax he had imposed on the people of Coventry. She issued a proclamation that all should bar their doors and shutters when she passed, but one inhabitant, called Tom (as in "peeping Tom"), could not resist taking a peek, and was apparently struck blind.