On 16 July 1910 the body of Thomas Atherston was found dead with gunshot wounds. Separated from his wife and their four children he had been living with actress Elizabeth Earles in Battersea. After an argument Earle threw him out and promptly started having an affair with one of his sons. Atherston was found dead in the adjoining apartment to his ex-lover, the police believed that he had been spying on the two lovers and disturbed a burglar.
On 16 July 1877 Spencer Gore won the first ever Wimbledon tennis tournament (men only) after a delay of three days due to rain
The Clink England’s first prison was notorious for its brutality, received its name from the clinking of prisoners’ manacles and chains
In 1110 Queen Matilda was crossing a ford at modern Bow, falling from her horse into the river the King Henry I ordered a bow-shaped bridge
A Black Death researcher claims the lack of rat corpses in London and the speed of contagion proves that it was spread by humans killing 40,000 in London
So many refugees arrived in the 1870/80s 150 synagogues were built and over 135,000 Jews were crammed into two square miles of the East End
In 1967 Finsbury Park was the setting for Jimi Hendrix’s first foray into his signature on stage guitar pyromania
18th century Fulham’s reputation for debauchery, gambling and prostitution echoes of which are used in gambling parlance, fulham means loaded dice
Steve Galloway was a 1980s semi-pro footballer who worked in the City – as part of his training NatWest let him run up their tower every day
At Heathrow the first aircraft to take off was a converted Lancaster bomber for Buenos Aires, passengers walked along duckboards over muddy airfield
In the early 20th century Great Portland Street earned the nickname Motor Row thanks to the 33 car showrooms that spanned its length
The Bank of England stores the country’s gold reserves in a subterranean crypt known as The Vault with a floor area over seven acres
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.
