On 6 September 1889, a letter to the Editor of The Times was published, the correspondent pointed out the inconvenience to a gentleman of the errant low hanging awning rods outside shops. The gentlemen in question complained that on occasion his hat was actually knocked off his head, and at night further obstructions were placed in the way of his headgear, in the shape of lights being hung at unreasonable heights.
On 6 September 1828 the Gothic House for llamas, presented by the Duke of Bedford was opened, he was President of the Zoological Society of London from 1899 to 1936
Buckingham House built 1702 which would later become Buckingham Palace was built on the site of a notorious brothel
A ‘tot’ was an artificial Celtic beacon hill arranged along solstice lines London’s most famous tot hill was Westminster hence Fields and Street
On 6 September 1921 an inquest ruled that 63-year-old retired French cook, Joseph Enecker, had shot himself after suffering hiccups for 48 hours
Pear Tree Court on Lunham Road has an 18-room nuclear bunker in the basement, now closed as Lambeth declared the borough nuclear free
165 Broadhurst Gardens was home to Decca Records until the early 1980s, on 1 January 1962, Brian Epstein paid for an hour audition for The Beatles, but they were turned down by Decca
Bleeding Heart Yard is almost certainly derived from an ancient religious symbol later adopted by a tavern which once stood on the site
On 6 September 1913 Arsenal played their first game at Highbury, 20,000 watched the Gunners beat Leicester Fosse 2-1
Building the tunnels for the first section of the District Line (South Kensington to Westminster, 1868) used 140 million bricks
Until Edward VIII changed the rules in 1936, Beefeaters at The Tower of London were required to sport a beard
Dulwich College founded in 17th century by actor Edward Alleyn has famous alumni including PG Wodehouse and Ernest Shackleton
Trivial Matter: London in 140 characters is taken from the daily Twitter feed @cabbieblog.
A guide to the symbols used here and source material can be found on the Trivial Matter page.
On 30 August 1572 Elizabeth I issued a decree: ‘no foteball player be used or suffered within the City of London and the liberties thereof on pain of imprisonment’
Transport for London Byelaw 10(2): No person shall enter through any train door until any person leaving by that door has passed through it!
Once Britain’s largest enclosed space, if measured, the air within the Albert Hall would weigh in at over 30 tons
John St. John Long appeared at the Old Bailey on a charge of manslaughter, his victim dosing on his medicated vapours, he paid the £13,000 fine from his vast wealth accululated from selling quack remedies
The Dorchester was seen as safe during the Blitz it is built using 2,000 miles of steel rods, a host of political and military luminaries chose it as their London residence
St. George Church, Mayfair designed by John James, one of Sir Christopher Wren’s assistants, when completed in 1725 was the first church in London to be built with a portico
There are three tube stations on the Monopoly board: Liverpool Street Station, King’s Cross and Marylebone
On 30 August 1930 the first Dutchman to play in the English Football league Gerrit Keizer made his goalkeeping debut for Arsenal
Underground’s longest tunnel is from East Finchley to Morden totalling 17.3 miles but only 45 per cent of the network is actually in tunnels
The Daily Courant was London’s original newspaper first published in 1792 near Ludgate Circus, consisting of a single page, with advertisements on the reverse side
The Constable of The Tower of London can extract a barrel of rum from any naval vessel plying the Thames
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