Imperial College London is steeped in history, so we have delved deep into the archives to pull out some amazing facts to whet your pre-Welcome Week appetite.
1. The Union Bar Furniture
Some of the furniture in The Union Bar is actually made from the old bar top from the 1900s. It's not that we haven't got round to replacing them, it's just part of the great history of the bar!
2. Discovery of Penicillin
Most people know that Sir Alexander Fleming accidentally discovered penicillin when he left some of the cultures he was studying alone whilst he went on holiday. What you may not know is that the laboratory where he made this discovery is in St Mary's Hospital, Paddington part of the Imperial College Healthcare Trust. In fact the laboratory is preserved as a museum which you can visit.
3. Invention of Heroin
A less well known discovery at St Mary's is that of Heroin. The routes of heroin synthesis can be tracked back to C. R. Alder Wright who chanced upon Diacetylmorphine whilst experimenting with the combination of morphine and acids.
4. Formation of Queen
The rock band Queen were formed when Brian May placed an advert on the noticeboard in the Union looking for a '"Mitch Mitchell/Ginger Baker type" drummer'. Roger Taylor responded leading to Queen performing one of their first gigs in the Union Concert Hall. Last year the Performing Rights Society honoured Queen with a special plaque which can be seen by the entrance to Beit Quadrangle.
5. Tankards
Apparently, although impossible to confirm, The Union Bar is home to the largest pewter tankard collection in Europe. Either way, there are loads of them. Too many to have all on display at once. They are all engraved with the past names of the holders of the position that the tankard is owned by. Each year we send them all off to be engraved, this process is ultimately overseen by the Union's Tankard Viceroy, an honorary position held by the Managing Director.
Tankards seem to have a strange affect on Imperial students and there are even rules and hierarchies about who can drink out of them.
6. H.G Wells
H.G. Wells, the famous writer, attended the Royal College of Science where he studied biology. During his time at Imperial he founded the Royal College of Science Association (now the RCSU) as well as Phoenix magazine. The studious amongst you will know that Mr Well's full name is Herbert George Wells, and in memory of this fine fellow the Union's mascot is a Phoenix named Herbert.
7. The Queen's Tower
My favourite fact about the Queen's Tower is that is the tallest free-standing building in London without a lift. Indeed climbing up it is quite a chore. However not many people are not aware that the Queen's Tower is all that is left of the old Imperial Institute. Students had to campaign to retain this one tower which gained support from John Betjeman, the then Poet Laureate.
8. The Bottle Match
The annual rugby match between the Royal School of Mines and the Camborne School of Mines is the second oldest varsity match in the world with the first recorded match being played in 1902. The oldest being some boat race between two little provincial universities called Oxford and Cambridge. The blues always win so it isn't even that exciting.
9. FiveSixEight
A name chosen by students, we often get asked 'Why the silly name?'. It's the number of ml in a pint, that's why!
And finally an often-spoken false fact
FiveSixEight is the Longest Student Bar in London
We aren't 100% sure where this came from, we think it was a former President of the Union, but for truth's sake, FiveSixEight is NOT the longest student bar in London. In fact it isn't even the longest bar in the building. Metric is technically a longer bar if you take the length of both sides.
