William Mills (inventor) William Mills (inventor) Sir William Mills (24 April 1856 - 1932) of Sunderland was an English engineer, who invented the Mills bomb which was developed and manufactured at his factory in Birmingham, England. The Mills bomb was the hand grenade most widely used by British and Imperial forces during the First World War. He was knighted in 1922. William Mills was born on 26 April 1856 in Wear Street, Southwick, Sunderland. He was the son of David Mills, a shipbuilder, and his wife Sarah Ann Kirkaldy. The Sunderland historian James Watson Corder recorded that David Mills had an interest in
Theatre in Birmingham Theatre in Birmingham What evidence remains of drama in medieval Birmingham suggests that it was largely religious in its basis. The Guild of the Holy Cross was established in the 14th century to maintain chantries in the parish church of St Martin in the Bull Ring, and is likely to have presented liturgical drama at its guildhall on New Street. The street now known as Carr's Lane in Birmingham City Centre was originally called "God's Cart Lane", after the Holy Cart used for religious pageantry and the presentation of morality plays and miracle plays. Wakes were established in Deritend and