15 Weird and Wonderful University Facts

As the new university year edges closer, we’ve decided to collect 15 weird and wonderful facts about universities you may not know.

1. Queen’s University Belfast offered a Jedi course
2. The University of Bath has an owl named Professor Yoda that is used to unsettle gulls
3. The first rocks to be brought back from the moon were analysed for signs of life at the University of Bristol
4. You can study the zombie apocalypse at the University of Winchester
5. The University of London was the first to admit women
6. Bournemouth University’s media and film students worked on the Oscar-winning film Gravity
7. The University of Edinburgh is home to the UK’s oldest student newspaper, The Student, which  was started in 1887 by Robert Louis Stevenson.
8. 19th Century poet Lord Byron kept a pet bear during his time at The University of Cambridge
9. Led Zeppelin’s first ever gig took place in The University of Surrey’s Great Hall in 1968
10. The University of Warwick has developed a Formula 3 racing car powered by chocolate, with bodywork made from potatoes.
11. The highest rate of inter-student marriages in Britain belongs to Durham University
12. The University of York has a higher density of ducks than any other UK university
13. The Brambell Natural History Museum at Bangor University is home to a two-faced lamb
14. J.K. Rowling holds six honorary degrees including one from St.Andrews University in 2008
15. The inventor of jelly tots, Dr Brian Boffey, is a University of Sheffield alumnus. He also helped Nasa develop food for astronauts