Origin of Michelin Guide and Michelin Star Rating System

1889 - Andre and Edouard Michelin form the Michelin Tyre Company

1891 – Michelin granted first patent for a removable pneumatic tyre

1898 – Bibendum, the iconic Michelin Man is born

1900 – The first ever Michelin Guide is published

1926 – The Michelin Star system is introduced

The Michelin Guide was originally given away free to motorists in an attempt to create more car travel through France with the idea that more travel by car would mean more cars and therefore the need for more tyres.

The guide included practical advice on how to fix damaged tyres and also reviews on good places to eat and stay overnight.

Eventually this evolved into the much coveted Michelin Star rating for restaurants.

One star means the restaurant is “very good in its category”

Two stars means the restaurant is “excellent cooking and is worth a detour”

Three stars means “exceptional cuisine, worth a special visit”

The Michelin inspectors remain anonymous and dine out well over 200 times a year.

Tokyo and Japan have the most Michelin stars followed by Paris and France. Tokyo has an incredible 16 three star restaurants to Paris’s 10 three stars.

In the UK there are only 4 restaurants with three star status. Two are in the small village of Bray: The Fat Duck owned and run by Heston Blumenthal (above), and The Waterside Inn owned by the Roux Brothers.

In London, the Dorchester – Head Chef Alain Ducasse and Gordon Ramsay in Chelsea are the other restaurants with three star status.

Origin of Rolls Royce

Rt. Hon. Charles Rolls (L) and Henry Royce (R)

1904 – Rt Hon. Charles Rolls, a posh, entitled man who can’t sell French Panhard cars meets working class engineer Henry Royce in the Midland Hotel, Manchester. Royce bought a French car called the Decauville, but was unimpressed. He took it apart and rebuilt it to his own specifications. The lunch went well and Royce took Rolls out for a drive in his car. The rest as they say is history.

1906 – Silver Ghost launched. It is still the most valuable car in the world today. It had 40 brake horsepower and could do 80 mph. But crucially as well as being of high quality, comfort and luxury, the engine was quiet!

1910 Charles Rolls was killed when his airplane snapped in two and fell to the ground.

Rolls Royce went on to become a byword for luxury and class. It still is. And the company had many links to British aerospace and aeroplanes. Rolls Royce engines helped the Spitfire (along with the Hurricane it has to be said) win the Battle of Britain for the UK against the Luftwaffe, and Rolls Royce also made the engines for that magical plane, the supersonic Concorde.