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Scunthorpe is the administrative centre of the unitary authority of North Lincolnshire, United Kingdom. It is popularly known as Scunny. Its current population is 62,000.
Scunthorpe appears in the Domesday Book (1086) as Escumetorp, which is Old English for "Skuma's village".
Ironstone was mined in the area as early as the Roman occupation, but the deposits lay forgotten until the 19th century. The rediscovery of iron ore resulted in the development of an iron and steel industry and rapid population growth.
The nearby villages of Ashby, Brumby, Crosby and Frodingham were incorporated into the Borough of Scunthorpe in 1936. At that time Scunthorpe was in the old county of Lincolnshire; successive local authority boundary changes took the town into Humberside as a district in 1974, and then North Lincolnshire in 1996.
Despite decline in the 1980s, the steel industry is still the town's major employer, but there is now a variety of industries including electronics, food, plastics and clothing manufacture.
It gained minor internet notoriety in 1996 when AOL's obscenity filter refused to accept the name of the town, due to its inclusion of the word cunt.
Persons of note from Scunthorpe (and surrounds)
- Joan Plowright, actress.
- Kevin Keegan, soccer player and later England manager.
- Liz Smith, actress (e.g. The Royle Family).
- Tony Jacklin, golfer. US open winner, 1970.
- John Wesley, preacher.
- Ian(Iain) Matthews, singer [Fairport Convention, Matthews Southern Comfort, Plainsong...]
- Martin Simpson, guitarist
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