On 27 October 1986 the London Stock Exchange rules changed. Dubbed the ‘Big Bang’, open-outcry, the system which had dominated the buying-and-selling of shares was ditched. Traders no longer had to bark their orders across trading pits or catch the attention of market makers with hand signals. Electronic trading was in, stocks could be bought and sold from upstairs, from the comfort of a leather-back chair with a coffee.
On 27 October 1997 the river dredger, MV Sand Kite, sailing in thick fog, collided with one of the Thames Barrier’s piers
Burlington Arcade was built to remove an alleyway beside Lord Burlington’s mansion from which dead cats were thrown into his back garden
The two golden pineapples over main entrance of St. Paul’s Cathedral – a very expensive insisted by Wren – are a symbol of hospitality
Great Ormond Street was the first hospital in England exclusively for children when it opened in 1851 42 per cent of deaths were children under 10
On 27 October 1968 over 6,000 marchers faced up to police in Grosvenor Square, they had broken away from an anti-Vietnam march facing up to police for 3 hours
London’s largest collection of Buddhas can be found in Soho’s Fo Guang Temple Margaret Street formerly All Saints’ Church
The top 50 tourist attractions in the world 6 are in London Trafalgar Square is 4th with 15 million visitors a year 44th is the London Eye
Wimbledon 1992 Mens Singles Final Goran Ivaniševic was warned for swearing in Croatian, the umpire realised as TV viewers rung in complaining
The custom of standing right on escalators started with a diagonal end to early ones and a sign saying “Step off: right foot first”
When St Pauls Cathedral neared completion its elderly architect Sir Christopher Wren was hauled to the roof by bucket and rope to inspect it
In the cloisters of Westminster Abbey is Britain’s the oldest door, in good nick, considering it was made in 1050 before the Norman Conquest
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.
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