A cultural gemstone! the Magic City! the Pittsburgh of the South! Birmingham inherits its name after Birmingham, UK, and is ranked as the largest city in the state of Alabama. The city binds its industrial and railroad transportation and its key part in the Civil Rights Movement to become one of America's most historical hub cities.

[caption id="attachment_2802" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Image retrieved from the Birmingham Times[/caption]

“Birmingham is and has always been a city for builders, from steel mills to start-ups. We are as strong as the steel that first built our economy, as we move forward to create better ways to live, work and play for our residents and visitors,” Mayor Randall L. Woodfin said.

As the city is ready to welcome the World Games, here are a few facts you need to know about Birmingham, Ala.

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Birmingham is kind of your favorite book. You know that book that you become engrossed by each single piece and just can't stop reading. The city is known to be the only place in the world to find coal, limestone, and iron ore, all three raw ingredients for steel in a ten-mile radius of Jones Valley. These ingredients have helped giving birth to the famous Sloss Furnaces, a now national historic landmark and the only premise of its kind to exist anywhere in the world today.

[caption id="attachment_2803" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Image retrieved from the Birmingham Times [/caption]

It is the place for inventions such as the windshield wiper, thanks to Mary Anderson. The city also birthed Veterans Day, a national holiday put aside to honor veterans in the U.S. As of today, the city remains host to the oldest and the largest Veterans Day celebration.

Birmingham is home for the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute (BCRI), a Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument, a cultural and educational institute to promote a better understanding for the significance of civil rights developments in the city. You can also find Birmingham Jail, known today as the Birmingham Police Department Detention Division, the place where civil rights figure Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., wrote the famous 'Letter from a Birmingham Jail'. If by any chance you walk into the Kelly Ingram Park, you will be able to see a statue of Dr. King.

When it comes to sports, the Magic City is no stranger to that.

Birmingham is home for the world's largest motorcycle museum, Birmingham's Barber Motorsports Park, a five-story glass, steel, and concrete museum that houses the world's largest collection of vintage and contemporary motorcycles, with 1,398 unique exhibits.

[caption id="attachment_2812" align="aligncenter" width="249"] Image Retrieved from Design Alabama[/caption]

In the Magic city, you will find America's oldest baseball stadium, Rickwood Field. This stadium has seen some of the greats of the discipline, Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, Dizzy Dean, and Willie Mays

Birmingham also creates legends.  Among such are track and field athlete Carl Lewis who participated in four olympics. Lewis himself has amassed a total of 22 gold medals-which include nine Olympics gold medals-, three silvers, and four bronzes.

Birmingham is also the birthplace of Vincent Edward "Bo" Jackson. He was one of the few athletes to play two major sports in North America, he was one of the few to rank among the stars in both disciplines.

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During his time, "Bo" seemed to be everywhere. If you were a Nintendo in the early 90s and liked American Football, you are probably familiar with "Tecmo Bowl" a video game that transferred Bo's skills.

Besides football, baseball, and video games, Bo knows charity. After a series of tornadoes devastated Alabama, he started a fundraiser that raised millions to help Alabama. As part of this campaign, former Auburn and Alabama football players played other in a flag football game to raise money for tornado relief. Among them were "Bo" Jackson, Cornelius Bennett, Pat Dye, Ray Perkins, Al Del Greco, Bobby Humphrey, Stan White, Gene Stallings, Joe Cribbs and Lee Roy Jordan.

Photos credits  Birmingham Times,  DesignAlabama,