Liverpool, UK

Liverpool is a UK city of roughly 500,000 residents on the River Mersey, granted city status in 1880. From 1830 its docks handled about 40% of world trade, and the Three Graces — the Royal Liver Building (1911), Cunard Building (1916), and Port of Liverpool Building (1907) — front the Pier Head UNESCO World Heritage waterfront. The Cavern Club at 10 Mathew Street hosted the Beatles 292 times between 1961 and 1963, while the 1854 World Museum holds the only surviving first-class ticket from the Titanic. The city is also home to the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, founded in 1872 and the UK's oldest surviving professional orchestra.