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Facts about Lancashire that outsiders never know about

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Lancashire is steeped in rich history, from forensics breakthroughs to becoming home to the UK's first KFC.

From seaside towns such as Blackpool and Morecambe to the beautiful rolling countryside just outside its major cities, there is a lot going on and a lot to discover.

Here at LancsLive, we've broken down the ten bizarre and interesting facts that not many people will know about the red rose county.

1. The UK's first KFC was in Preston.

England was also the first country to get a KFC outside of the USA, with the fast food giant coming to the UK in May, 1965 - and in Preston. It was almost another 10 years before McDonald’s, Pizza Hut, and Burger King made it to our shores.

Harry Latham, who set up Preston’s KFC, died on May 23, 2019.

Mr Latham, originally from Bristol, opened up a new chain of fried chicken shops, Miss Millie’s - named after Colonel Sanders’ niece Mildred - which now stretch from Weston-super-Mare, round Bristol and Cardiff.

The Miss Millie’s chain remained in the family - his four daughters Ann Walker, Sheila Wilson, Kerry Baldin and Kate Ostrowski took over the running of the firm until they sold it in 2018.

2. Jelly Babies were invented in Lancashire.

They were created in 1864 by an immigrant from Austria named Steinbeck, who was working at famous sweet shop, Fryers of Lancashire,

The sweets were invented in 1864 by an Austrian immigrant working at Fryers of Lancashire.

He was tasked with creating a new model of jelly beans, but the end result looked more like babies, thus earning them the creepy name of ‘Unclaimed Babies’, after babies who were historically left on church steps.

They were then produced by Basset’s in Sheffield as ‘Peace Babies’ to mark the end of WW1, as the product was suspended during the war due to wartime shortages.

In 1953, the product was relaunched as Jelly Babies, as we know them today.

3. Lancashire was the first place to take on mass fingerprinting after a Blackburn girl was murdered.

June Anne Devaney was three years of 11 months in May, 1948, when she was abducted from her cot at Queen’s Park Hospital in Blackburn, where she was recovering from pneumonia.

June was found to have been raped and murdered, and her killed, Peter Griffiths, was arrested three months later and hanged in November 1948.

To solve the crime, police obtained fingerprints of every man aged 16 and over who had been in Blackburn on the night of the murder.

This makes the murder, while tragic, a huge leap in forensic science, as DNA testing was not readily available in the 90s. This was the first time mass fingerprinting was used in the UK.

4. The first motorway was built in Preston.

The Preston Bypass was the first motorway in the UK, designed by an Lancashire County Council surveyor James Drake.

Planning had begun in 1937, although there were no legal powers that allowed motorway construction until the introduction of the Special Roads Act 1949.

It was intended as part of a larger initiative to create a north-south motorway network that later became part of the M6.

The bypass was opened by the Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, on December, 1958, at a cost of £3m, around £70m in modern money.

Just weeks after opening, the road had to close temporarily due to the base layer being damaged by a rapid freeze and thaw cycle.

It has since been widened from two lanes to four lanes in each direction, making it now effectively a different motorway.

5. A time capsule is hidden under Blackpool Tower.

Blackpool Tower was opened in 1894, with the foundation stone laid in 1891.

It cost, at the time, £300,000 to build, which is now around £39m.

The foundation stone was laid down by British Conservative Statesman, Sir Matthew White-Ridley.

A time capsule was placed under the foundation stone with his voice recorded on a phonograph, newspapers, and other items of the time period - but although a search was conducted in 1991 for the capsule, not even remote sensing equipment could find it.

And as always have a chilled day from the Viking