On 22 September 1735 Sir Robert Walpole moved into 10 Downing Street. Before taking up residence as Prime Minister, he commissioned William Kent to join the adjacent house at the rear to form a property more suited for a Minister of the Crown. Walpole persuaded Mr Chicken, to move to another house in Downing Street, this small house and the mansion at the back were then incorporated into Number Ten.

On 22 September 1848 John Harold, London’s first case of cholera died at 8 New Lane, Gainsford Street, Horsleydown, Southwark

The smallest prison in London is a single room in the base of the St Stephens Tower in the Houses of Parliament, although never used these days, it is still classed as a state prison

The Ritz was one of the first steel-frame buildings to be erected in Europe. The restaurant has so many chandeliers that its ceiling has had to be specially reinforced

Playwright Richard Brinsley Sheridan died at 14 Savile Row. Whilst laid out in his coffin an overzealous bailiff arrested him for his debts

Christ Church, Lambeth, has a spire decorated with stars and stripes, half the cost of the church was borne by Americans, and the tower commemorates President Lincoln’s abolition of slavery

In the film The Da Vinci Code – The ‘Parisian’ lecture hall, where Tom Hanks gives a lecture is actually Fairfield Halls, Croydon

The Roundhouse in Camden was originally built as a turntable engine shed for the London & Birmingham Railway in 1846, within 10 years the engines were too big for the building to continue to serve its purpose

The 1908 Olympics were heading for Rome until Mount Vesuvius erupted on 5 April 1906 and the Italians suddenly had other priorities, with just two years’ notice, London came to the rescue

Cabbies face a daily £1 fine should he take two consecutive days off ‘without just cause’ according to section 33 of The London Hackney Carriages Act 1843

The Worshipful Company of Clockmakers, one of the Livery Companies of the City of London, was formed by a Royal Charter in 1631 and remains the world’s oldest horological institution

There are now 25 Sherlock Holmes Societies around the world, in countries as diverse as Japan, Israel, India, Australia and Venezuela

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.