In 1828, Stourbridge built the first steam train to operate on US soil

In 1866 the Black Country was described as "black by day and red by night"

13 year old Queen Victoria described the land as "desolate" and "black"

In 1910 the lady chain makers of Cradley Heath helped win Britain's first minimum wage

The average age of death was 16.7 in Dudley in 1841