n.
City and metropolitan borough (pop., 2001: 977,091), central England.
Birmingham lies 100 mi (160 km) northwest of London. Its first charter was granted in 1166. It was a small manufacturing town until the 18th century, when it became a centre of the Industrial Revolution , counting among its citizens James Watt , Joseph Priestley , and John Baskerville . It suffered heavy bombing during World War II but was subsequently rebuilt. It remains the chief centre of Britain's light and medium industry, and it is also the cultural centre for a wide area. Birmingham is the site of two universities and of a grammar school founded by King Edward VI in 1552.