Short answers, pulled from the story.
Newcastle upon Tyne takes its name from the wooden castle erected in 1080 by Robert Curthose, eldest son of William the Conqueror. The settlement was thereafter called Novum Castellum, meaning New Castle. Before that it had been known as Monkchester, and before that as the Roman fort Pons Aelius.
Pons Aelius was a Roman fort and bridge across the River Tyne, founded by the Emperor Hadrian in the 2nd century AD. Its name came from Hadrian's family name, a rare honour that suggests Hadrian may have personally visited the site during his tour of Britain. The settlement's estimated population was around 2,000 people.
On the 3rd of February 1879, Mosley Street in Newcastle became the first public road in the world to be lit by the incandescent lightbulb, making Newcastle one of the first cities in the world to have electric street lighting.
Notable acts with connections to Newcastle include The Animals, who emerged from city night spots like Club A-Go-Go in the 1960s, as well as Sting, Bryan Ferry, Dire Straits, and AC/DC vocalist Brian Johnson. Venom, widely regarded as originators of black metal, formed in Newcastle in 1979, and Duran Duran guitarist Andy Taylor was born there in 1961.
Geordie is the dialect of Newcastle upon Tyne and the surrounding area, with its roots in the Anglo-Saxon language spoken by populations who migrated into England after the end of Roman rule. Unlike other English regional dialects, Geordie retained much of that older vocabulary and pronunciation, including words like 'gan' (go), 'bairn' (child) and 'canny' (good or very).
In 1636, an estimated 47% of Newcastle's population died from the plague epidemic, based on evidence held by the Society of Antiquaries. Out of approximately 20,000 inhabitants, around 7,000 people died. This may have been the most devastating proportional loss in any British city in that period.