The name of the city - previously known as Ratae Corieltauvorum in Roman times - comes from Ligor, which is what the River Soar used to be called.
The early ninth century name was Legorensis civitatis - meaning Ligor citizens. By the time of the Domesday book in 1086 they were calling it Ledecestre, with the second half of that word meaning a Roman fort.
King Richard III's burial in Leicester Cathedral coincided with Leicester's 7 wins that saved them from relegation.
A team of Buddhist monks are flown in to bless the team before each game, and the spend the match silently meditating, with the main Buddha playing a drum.
Leicester City holds the joint record for the most second-tier title triumphs, having won the First Division six times.
Leicester boasts Britain's first mainland radio station – BBC Radio Leicester – which first broadcast in 1967.
Leicester is home to the National Space Centre – one of the UK's leading visitor attractions.
Leicester Market is the biggest covered outdoor market in Europe.
Leicester is also the home of the 'chisit' – a nickname given to the people of Leicester, because of the phrase "How much is it?" – which in the Leicester accent sounds like "I'm a chisit!"
Leicester was the birthplace of the father of the package holiday, In 1841, Thomas Cook organised his first package tour, a trip by train for temperance supporters from Leicester to Loughborough.
Leicester holds the world's biggest celebration of the Hindu Diwali Festival of Lights outside the Indian sub-continent.
Experts have agreed that Leicester is also the birthplace of modern standard English
The Queen's Building at De Montfort Uni is the largest naturally ventilated building in Europe
Leicester has more traffic lights than any other city in the UK. This means it has more reds than all of the hotels in Portugal.
Leicester Square in London is named after Robert Sidney, 2nd Earl of Leicester.
