On 19 August 1897 the first electric taxi hit London’s streets. The Bersey taxis were the first self-propelled taxis and were nicknamed ‘Hummingbirds’ because of their low engine noise. Built by the Great Horseless Carriage Company, powered by 3½ horse power Lundell type motors with a range of 30 miles, and a top speed of 9 mph. Breakdowns and the high cost of batteries and tyres made their use unprofitable.

On 19 August 1842 saw the last suicide from the top of the Monument-the sixth before railings were put up. Curiously many victims were bakers

More people were executed at Tower of London in the 20th century than in all other centuries combined 15thC-1; 16thC-5; 17thC-1; 18thC-3; 19thC-0; 20thC-11

According to one estimate, there are a staggering 8.3 million trees in London with 47 per cent of Greater London physically green

At 9 Curzon Place where Cass Elliot of Mamas and Papas died in 1974; Who drummer Keith Moon also died from drugs in the same flat – both aged 32

When Lenin was in London reading Marx’s work some believe they first met in the Crown Tavern, Clerkenwell Green

Gerry Rafferty’s Baker Street famous sax riff was played by Raphael Ravenscroft and was reportedly paid £27.50 for the work – the cheque bounced

Elephant & Castle Shopping Centre dubbed ‘Piccadilly Circus of South London’, Europe’s first covered mall was voted London’s biggest eyesore

Plucky minnows Walthamstow Avenue FC famously held both Arsenal and Manchester United to draws in the FA Cup during the 1950s, lasting 88 years before merging into non-existence

At Whitechapel station something ludicrous happens: the London Overground passes underneath the London Underground

Before Roy Hudd went into comedy he studied art and design – one of his teachers was Harry Beck, creator of the London Tube map

In 2003 the Environmental Agency ship the Thames Guardian had dropped onto its deck a red-bellied piranha no doubt by a very stunned seagull

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 12 August 1827 poet and engraver William Blake died. Born at 28 Broad Street, now Broadwick Street he would write what many regard as England’s national anthem – Jerusalem – in his rooms in South Molton Street. He lived for most of his life in London dying a poor man at 3 Fountain Court off the Strand. Buried in Bunhill Fields, damaged during World War II the precise location of Blake’s remains have been forgotten.

On 12 August 1707 Henry Chamberlain wrote that ‘the epidemic was so prodigious that the people’s feet made as full an impression them [flies] as upon thick snow’

The heads of executed traitors were displayed on spikes on London Bridge is now commemorated by a giant white spike on the current crossing

Unusual street names: Ha Ha Road Greenwich; Hooker’s Road Walthamstow; Quaggy Walk Blackheath; Cyclops Mews & Uamvar Street Limehouse

St George’s, University of London was founded near Hyde Park Corner in 1733 and was the second establishment in England to formally train doctors

Stalin, Lenin, and Trotsky met at the Brotherhood Church, Islington for the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party it’s now a Tesco Metro

The Beatles played their last gig on the roof of Apple Corps at 3 Saville Row. It’s now an Abercrombie & Fitch, after 42 minutes the police asked them to turn down the volume

When war broke out in 1939, BBC TV shut down half way through Mickey Mouse cartoon. In 1945 the cartoon resumed with apology for the break

The Rom Skate Park in Hornchurch was built in 1978, and was the first skatepark in Europe to be given protected Listed status

All 22 stations on the Metropolitan Line from Amersham to Liverpool Street have an ‘R’ in their name, only Aldgate hasn’t on the whole line

The plinth supporting the South Bank Lion on the south side of Westminster Bridge has a room for security guards to have a cup of tea

You could fit either the Great Pyramid at Giza or the Statue of Liberty inside the O₂ Arena, the largest structure of its kind 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.