On 8 February 1952 Princess Elizabeth proclaimed herself Queen, watched by 150 dignitaries at St. James’s Palace. She said: “My heart is too full for me to say more to you today than I shall always work, as my father did throughout his reign, to advance the happiness and prosperity of my peoples, spread as they are all the world over.” After the Accession Declaration, the new Queen held her first Privy Council meeting and her Proclamation was signed, by among others, the Lord Chancellor.

On 8 February 1983 champion thoroughbred Shergar was kidnapped in Ireland, never found Lloyds of London paid $10.6 million insurance

Little Ease dungeon at the Tower is too small to stand, lie or walk forcing its occupant to squat painfully in the dark for days on end

The Millennium Dome (O2) the largest structure of its kind in the world big enough to house the Great Pyramid of Giza or Statue of Liberty

On 8 February 1960 Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, architect of Waterloo Bridge, Battersea & Bankside Power Stations and the red telephone box died

The ashes of former Prime Minister James Callaghan are scattered next to the Peter Pan statue at Great Ormond Street hospital

On 8 February 1819 writer and art critic John Ruskin was born at 54 Hunter Street, Brunswick Square, Holborn

Stone blocks outside the Athenaeum Club, Pall Mall were installed to assist the rather short Duke of Wellington mount his horse

Greater London is 607 square miles, if grassed over it would total 220,000 football pitches – but without room for spectators

When the first escalators were installed at Earls Court Station a one-legged man was employed to demonstrate their safety and ease of use

According to Guinness World Records Whitechapel Bell Foundry in London’s East End established in 1570 is Britain’s oldest manufacturing firm

On the London Eye, despite there only being 32 capsules, for superstitious reasons they are numbered 1-33, for good luck number 13 is left out

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 1 February 1971 Karpal Kaur Aandhu became the Metropolitan Police’s first female Asian police officer. In Cressida Dick the Met might have recently got its first female Commissioner but for Karpal she didn’t rise up through the ranks. Born in Zanzibar and of Indian parentage, her husband murdered her in 1973 believing her career was not Asian nor ladylike. Today there are 280 Asian women police officers in London alone.

On 1 February 1952 the first TV detector van was demonstrated to Postmaster-General Lord De La Warr at Post Office Laboratories, Dollis Hill

The building of Holloway Prison was completed in 1852 at the grand cost of £91,547 10s 8d, there were 436 cells, 283 for males, 60 for females, 62 for juveniles, 18 refractory cells and 14 reception cells

London used to be the largest and most influential city in the world. With a population of 12 million, it is still the world’s largest financial centre and Europe’s largest city

The world’s first underground public lavatory opened in 1855 under the pavement next to the Bank of England

The Prime Minister who created the most peers was Tony Blair at 357. The second-most created was 201 by Margaret Thatcher

19th-century historian Thomas Carlyle and his wife chose to live in Chelsea because it was ‘at once cheap and excellent’

On 1 February 1814 the last Thames Frost Fair commenced lasting 4 days, the ice supported an elephant led across under Blackfriars Bridge

The Royal Tennis Court at Hampton Court Palace is the oldest functioning sports building in England and still used regularly

Angel has the Underground’s longest escalator at 60m/197ft with a vertical rise of 27.5m its shortest is Stratford a vertical rise of 4.1m

The largest ox sold in England was from the Isle of Dogs. It weighed 236 stone and was sold at Leadenhall Market in 1720 for 100 guineas

Every 3 years a quill pen in the hand of Historian John Stow’s effigy is replaced at a ceremony in St Andrew Undershaft Church

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.