On 29 October 1986 the first ring road around a British city was finally opened by Margaret Thatcher as the last section – London Colney to South Mimms – was completed. Not long afterwards at 11.16 am the first breakdown occurred on the completed orbital road, the start of a fine London tradition. The tradition of being the biggest car park in England continues, severe weather in 2010 caused the Red Cross to provide blankets and tea for motorists stranded in their cars for 17 hours.

On 29 October 1618 Sir Walter Raleigh was executed at The Tower of London – his discovery of tobacco has been killing people since that time

Found a shed on Tottenham Court Road were the remains of 100 corpses victims of body snatching deposited there before being sold to surgeons

Tottenham Court Road stands on land leased to Queen Elizabeth I that came to be known as Tottenham Court because of its royal connections

The coffin of Dr. Thomas Barnardo was carried in funeral cortege on an underground train in 1905, one of only two occasions this is known to have happened

United States President Theodore Roosevelt got married in London, at St. George’s, Hanover Square. His wife’s middle name was Kermit

The historic Anchor Tavern on Bankside was the location for a scene for Mission Impossible starring Tom Cruise

Holy Trinity Church in Beechwood Road, Dalston is home to the annual Clowns Service attended by clowns in full makeup

Born in 1775 the inventor of the boxer’s uppercut, ‘Dutch Sam’ Elias, from Whitechapel trained on gin and lost just 2 of his 100 boxing fights

The last manually operated doors on Tube trains (pneumatic sliding doors were introduced on tube trains in 1919) were phased out in 1929

In the 18th Century John Harris, head waiter of Shakespeare’s Head, Covent Garden annually produced a Who’s Who of Whores

The 28-inch Greenwich refracting telescope is the largest of its kind in Britain and the seventh largest in the world

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 22 October 1910 Dr. Hawley Crippen was convicted at the Old Bailey of his wife’s murder. The police had found the gruesome remains of a body beneath the coal cellar of his house, wrapped in a male pyjama jacket and identified as his wife Cora, it had no head, no limbs, no bones and no genitals, but there were traces of a poison that Crippen was discovered to recently purchased. Recent analysis of the remains indicate that the corpse found in his house were not female.

On 22 October 1974 a bomb exploded in Brooks Club injuring three members of staff, one of the first on the scene was Conservative Party leader Edward Heath who was dining nearby

At Newgate 1789 Catherine Murphy was the last woman to executed by burning however all was not so as she had been hanged first for coining

The 5-star Lanesborough Hotel was built by James Lane, 2nd Viscount Lanesborough in 1719 before becoming St George’s Hospital in 1733

When Augusta of Saxe-Coburg married Frederick, Prince of Wales in 1736 she was sick down her dress, an ill omen he died before being crowned

Longest Budget speech ever: Gladstone, 1853 – 4hrs 45mins. Drank sherry and beaten egg, the budget only time any MP is allowed alcohol in the chamber)

Ray Davis originally wrote about Liverpool sunset in a nod to The Beatles but was persuaded to eulogise about the city that he loved

In the 80s Cynthia Payne was convicted of running a brothel at 32 Ambleside Avenue, Streatham, luncheon vouchers paid for personal services

The Wimbledon Championships held annually since 1877 at the All-England Club is the oldest tennis tournament in the world

Over 47 million litres water are pumped from the Tube each day, enough to fill a standard leisure centre swimming pool every quarter of an hour

A Billingsgate porter’s hat aka ‘bobbin’ is made of wood and leather to support heavy boxes of fish. The upturned brim captures the fish juice

The TARDIS, (Dr Who’s transport) can be found outside Earl’s Court station. Or at least an old police call box can

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.