Short answers, pulled from the story.
Derby was awarded city status on the 7th of June 1977 by Queen Elizabeth II, to mark the 25th anniversary of her ascension to the throne. The Queen presented the charter scroll in person on the 28th of July 1977 on the steps of the Council House. Derby had held a cathedral since 1927 but waited fifty years for formal city status.
The name Derby derives from multiple influences. The Viking name Djúra-bý, recorded in Old English as Deoraby, means "village of the deer". It also connects to the River Derwent, whose Celtic root means "valley thick with oaks", with Derby interpreted as a shortened form of Derwent by, meaning "Derwent settlement". The Roman name Derventio may also have contributed, with the letter "v" softening over centuries into "b".
Derby was the site of the first water-powered silk mill in Britain, built by John Lombe and George Sorocold in 1717. In 1771, Richard Arkwright, Samuel Need, and Jedediah Strutt built the world's first commercially successful water-powered cotton spinning mill at Cromford, Derbyshire. Jedediah Strutt also patented the Derby Rib Attachment in 1759, which transformed stocking manufacture.
Samuel Plimsoll was the Liberal MP for Derby. He introduced bills for the Plimsoll line, a mandatory mark on ships preventing dangerous overloading. His first attempt failed, but the legislation succeeded in 1876 and contributed to his re-election as an MP.
Derby's deaf population is estimated to be at least three times higher than the national average. Only London has a larger deaf population in Britain. Many deaf people have moved to Derby because of its strong sign language-using community. The Royal School for the Deaf on Ashbourne Road provides education in both British Sign Language and English.
On the 4th of December 1745, Jacobite Army troops led by Prince Charles Edward Stuart arrived in Derby while marching toward London to attempt to overthrow the House of Hanover. Stuart demanded billets for his 9,000 troops and stayed at Exeter House on Full Street. A council of war on the 5th of December decided to retreat, and Stuart abandoned his invasion at Swarkestone Bridge on the River Trent, a few miles south of Derby.