Things you didn't know about... Barnet

Barnet keeps a foot in both camps
Barnet borough contains the former urban districts of Chipping Barnet and East Barnet, both previously in Hertfordshire, and the urban district of Friern Barnet and boroughs of Finchley and Hendon, all previously in Middlesex.

Barnet Fair spawns cockney rhyming slang
Chipping Barnet was granted a market in 1199 ("chipping" means market). Then in 1588 it was granted a fair, which became so famous that "Barnet" became cockney rhyming slang for hair (Barnet—Barnet Fair—hair).

Barnet gave us the Oxford Dictionary
James Murray, the founder of the Oxford English Dictionary, taught at Mill Hill School from 1870 to 1885. The school was founded as a Protestant Dissenters' Grammar School at a time when secondary schools weren't open to non-Anglicans.

Colney Hatch, unlike Bedlam, is in Friern Barnet
The second Middlesex County Pauper Lunatic Asylum was built next to the new Great Northern Railway line at Colney Hatch in Friern Barnet, and opened in 1851. Colney soon became synonymous with Bedlam, previously the central London asylum of Bethlem, to describe pandemonium or mad behaviour.

Why Barnet is a high-flier
RAF Hendon, in the borough of Barnet, was a pioneering centre of aviation. The airfield even included a school founded by the Frenchman Louis Bleriot, the first person to fly an aeroplane across the English Channel.

War of the Roses heats up at Battle of Barnet
The Battle of Barnet in 1471 was an important battle in the Wars of the Roses when the armies of Edward VI and the Earl of Warwick met at Gladmore Heath, though today it's uncertain where exactly that was. Warwick lost the battle and was killed after his troops, in a thick fog, mistakenly attacked their own comrades.

Barnet FC—a football club by any other name
Barnet FC was formed in 1888, having started out as Woodville FC in 1882, before changing its name to New Barnet in 1885. They ceased to exist in 1901, but in 1905 Avenue FC renamed itself Barnet FC, which in turn merged with Barnet Alston FC in 1912. The name was changed back to Barnet FC after World War I. Phew.

Barnet, Churchill and Hitler's deputy
Winston Churchill may or may not have met Rudolf Hess in Barnet during World War II after Adolf Hitler's deputy mysteriously flew in to Scotland in 1941. Hess was taken for interrogations at Tower House, 17 Oakleigh Park North, Barnet, which was used to house prisoners of war.

George Michael and Jerry Springer—sons of Barnet
Georgious Kyriakos Panayiotou (George Michael) was born above a caf? in Church Lane, Finchley, while American TV show host, Jerry Springer, was born in East Finchley—both suburbs now part of the London Borough of Barnet.