On 26 April 1908, the windscreen wiper was invented by a Newcastle United fan driving home from London in a blizzard. Gladstone Adams was driving home after seeing his team lose the FA Cup Final to Wolves. His journey was punctuated by repeated stops to clear snow from the windscreen. Adams vowed that when he got back home he’d do something to solve the problem. And so he did.

On 26 April 1921 the first motorcycle police patrols went on duty on the streets of London, it’s not recorded how many speeding offences were booked that day

When Scotland Yard’s foundations were being built the headless torso of a woman was found, the murderer was never caught

Crutched Friars, Tower Hill takes it’s name from Fratres Cruciferi a Roman Catholic religious order that settled in the street in 1249

St. Bartholomew’s Hospital is the oldest hospital in London having been founded in 1123 by a monk named Rahere

The first Lord Mayor of London (who is an officer of The City of London) was Henry Fitz-Ailwin de Londonestone who held the position in 1189

At Guildhall’s Art Gallery the eastern entrance of a Roman amphitheatre can be viewed underneath the artworks

Princess Elizabeth (before becoming Queen) was first seen with Philip Mountbatten in public at the recently re-opened Savoy Hotel in 1946

A tennis ball was discovered in 1922 in the rafters of Westminster Hall dating from before 1520 it was stuffed with dog hair

The Ryde to Shanklin train line on the Isle of Wight uses for its rolling stock 70-year-old London Tube trains from the Northern Line

Performed at 10 pm for 700 years The Tower of London’s The Ceremony of the Keys is the world’s oldest surviving continuous military ceremony

Over 25 per cent of all people living in London were born in another country and more languages are spoken than any city 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.