On 9 December 1914 Lt. Harry Colebourne of the Royal Canadian Army Veterinary Corps purchased a black bear from a hunter, who had shot the mother, for $20 in Ontario. He named it Winnie short for Winnipeg. Incredibly he brought the bear to England when it became the regiment’s unofficial mascot, leaving the bear to the London Zoo. A. A. MIlne and his son Christopher Robin saw the creature and thus Winnie the Pooh was born.

On 9 December 1868 one of Britain’s most famous politicians became Prime Minister for the first time. William Ewart Gladstone would become Prime Minister three more times

Workhouse Rule 15: No person of either sex be allowed to smoke in bed or in any room of the house upon pain of being put in the dungeon 6 hours

London’s biggest private home is Witanhurst, on Highgate West Hill: 65 rooms, including 25 bedrooms, a gym and a library, and plans underground cinema, beauty parlour and car park

The Bethlehem Royal Hospital is world’s oldest institution specialising in mental health was founded in 1247 near Bishopsgate, in 1800 the hospital moved to Lambeth, it now houses the Imperial War Museum

Queen Victoria was offended when a 14-storey tower blocked her view of Houses of Parliament it led to a Bill capping all buildings to 80ft

The ArcelorMittal Orbit, a 115-metre-high (377 ft) sculpture and observation tower in the Olympic Park in Stratford, East London, is Britain’s largest piece of public art

London’s first sandwich bar, Sandy’s, opened in Oxendon Street in 1933, the greater informality of eating soon spread throughout the capital as the culture of fast-food was established

On 9 December 2000 the fastest ever goal in the Premiership was scored after 9.9 seconds by Ledley King for Spurs v Bradford City

Harry Beck’s map was considered too big a departure from the norm, but the public liked it and it became official in 1933

Founded in London in 1670, the Hudson’s Bay Company is the world’s oldest chartered company and Founded in 1694, the Bank of England was the first privately owned national bank in any country

During he 1920s and 1930s Aberdeen based shepherd George Donald would bring his flock down to Hyde Park grazing his sheep to keep grass level

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 2 December 1697 after nearly three decades spent rebuilding since The Great Fire of London the first service was held in Sir Christopher Wren’s St. Paul’s Cathedral. The saying to be ‘a St. Paul’s workman’ denoted a lazy tradesman principally as the cathedral had taken so long to be re-built. It was not finished until 1710 by which time Wren would have to be hoisted up to the dome in a bucket as age prevented him from climbing.

On 2 December 1887 A Study in Scarlet was first published the first time Sherlock Holmes was featured solving a crime and the first ‘serial’ detective novel

On 2 December 2009 ‘Lord’ Edward Davenport of Portland Place was jailed for 7 years, the self-styled aristocrat offered bogus loans for cash-strapped investors, but never paid-out

The City of London is the historical core of the English capital. It roughly matches the boundaries the Roman city of Londinium and of medieval London

8 people drowned and 15 buildings were destroyed in the Great London Beer Flood of 1814, a brewery vat burst just behind what is now New Oxford Street and 30,000 gallons of beer flooded the area

As early as 1841 The House of Commons gained its first Asian member when David Ochterlony Dyce Sombre became an MP

The rusty bollards on Bellenden Road were sculpted by Antony Gormley whose studio is nearby, 4 shapes oval, snowman, peg and err . . . penis

Soho was once home to a shop called ‘Anything Left Handed’ selling – you’ve guessed it – household products specifically designed for left-handed people, it is now closed

The 1908 London Olympics 400m final American John Carpenter blocked Wyndham Halswelle, disqualified the other American finalists then refused to re-race, Halswelle jogged alone round the track taking gold

Established in 1890, the City and South London Railway was the first deep-level underground railway in the world, also the first major railway to use electric traction, it became the Northern Line

Clerkenwell was famous for its gin distilleries – Stone’s, Tanqueray’s & Gordon’s – setting up here, they were probably attracted to the region as thirsty cattle drovers passed by en route to Smithfield

Prince Albert did not introduce the first Christmas tree into London, the first was Queen Charlotte, consort of George III, wanting to recreate the German Christmases of her childhood

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.