On 26 July 1994, a car bomb has exploded outside the Israeli embassy injuring 14 people and causing widespread damage. The Audi 100, driven by a woman was packed with 30lbs of Semtex, it blew up minutes after the driver left it. Although embassy staff were dazed and confused, the worst injury was a broken arm. Thirteen hours later, another car bomb exploded outside the headquarters of a London Jewish charity.

On 26 July 1818 to publicise the opening of the Royal Coburg Theatre, Usher the clown drove a carriage, pulled by 4 tom-cats along Waterloo Road. The theatre was later renamed the Old Vic

The Bishop of Rochester’s cook was boiled alive at Smithfield after poisoning fellow cooks. Boiling was struck off the Statute Book in 1548

The clock known by many as Big Ben completed in 1854 its original 2.5-ton hands had to be remade lighter as the mechanism couldn’t turn them

London’s 1845 International Exhibition saw the world’s first plastic using nitro-cellulose – the product failed as it tended to explode

Sadly for the UK’s richest city, London has the highest proportion of people living below the poverty line than anywhere else in the country

On New Year’s Eve 1853 a dinner was held inside the stomach of a iguanodon being constructed for Dinosaur Park at Crystal Palace

The Savoy was the first hotel with electric lifts known at the time as ascending rooms – it boasted en-suite rooms with hot and cold water

In 2014 the London Playing Fields Foundation reported that 20 per cent of London’s football pitches had been lost over 20 years

During rush hour motor vehicles average speed is 7mph while cyclists maintain 13mph – 15 per cent of Londoners spend over 2 hours commuting each day

Eurostar’s departure lounge has columns that are 3 beer barrels apart as the building was once where beer in transit was stored

Barnet Hill, the hill outside High Barnet Tube station is the one the Grand Old Duke of York marched his men up and down

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.