On 4 October 1911, Earls Court opened to the public the first underground escalator. To reassure passengers ‘Bumper’ Harris, a clerk of works, was assigned to assuage passenger’s anxiety by demonstrating the escalator’s convenience and its safety. He had, unfortunately, a wooden leg leading to the speculation of having lost it in a previous escalator journey, the leg had been crushed between two carriages carrying rubble.
On 4 October 1936 The Battle of Cable Street took place as Eastenders battled with Oswald Mosley’s marching fascists the Blackshirts
Sumptuary law prescribed precisely what different echelons of London society were permitted to wear only aristocrats could wear pointy boots
The 6,000-year-old timber piles visible at low tide in front of MI6’s building are remnants of a Mesolithic structure beside the River Effra
Below Greenwich Park at Croom Hill Gate is a Bronze Age cemetery, excavations in the 18th century found glass beads, wool and hair, as well as shields and swords
More than 1 million bees were evacuated from London during World War II, as their hives were disrupted by the shocks of the Blitz
Whitechapel’s Marcus Samuel sold painted seashells, which is why he called his later oil industry concern Shell
The Thames has frozen completely 24 times the last Frost Fair in February 1814 an elephant was led across the river below Blackfriars Bridge
Richmond Golf Club’s 1940 rules: ‘During gunfire or while bombs are falling, players may take cover without penalty for ceasing play . . .
On 4 October 1911, the Public Carriage Department, assigned to regulate cabs, took possession of the new police offices in Great Scotland Yard
Gentleman’s Magazine was the world’s first magazine, it was printed at St John’s Gate, Clerkenwell, it ran uninterrupted for almost 200 years, until 1922, and was the first to use the term ‘magazine’
London’s oldest shrub is the 200-year-old wisteria at Fuller’s Griffin Brewery in Chiswick, planted in 1816, its twin at Kew Gardens died
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 27 September 1968 the musical Hair, containing nudity and drug-taking, opened after the abolition of theatre censorship, ending the Lord Chamberlain’s powers of censorship dating back to 1737
In 1736 gravedigger Thomas Jenkins received 100 lashes for selling dead bodies from St Dunstan & All Saints, Stepney High Street
There are still 1,600 operating gas lamps in London examples are found in the charming Goodwin’s Court, Covent Garden
During the Great Fire of London in 1666, charred leaves of burning books were blown as far as Acton, an astonishing 20 miles distant
On 27 September 1940 during the Blitz, an astonishing 117,000 people slept sheltering in the Underground, authorities had tried to ban the public at night from the stations
First crafted in 1951, James Bond’s aftershave was Floris No. 89 – so-named because Floris’s shop is at 89 Jermyn Street, Mayfair
As a bet, Lord Lyttleton slept in the attic of 50 Berkeley Square in 1872, with his shotgun, he apparently fired his gun at several apparitions throughout the night
London has more functioning public baths and indoor pools that date from prior to 1939 than any city in the world – 18 public; and 5 private
The Victoria Line that runs between Brixton and Walthamstow Central, and is coloured light blue on the Tube map, is one of only two lines on the Underground that is completely underground
On Albert Bridge, a sign asks soldiers to break step as synchronised marching caused too much vibration! Wags change the sign to ‘break wind’
Gas street lights widely used in 1850 each with a luminousity of a 25 watt bulb, but by the 1930s only half of London’s streets had electric
