On 1 November 1848, the first WH Smith bookstall opened at Euston station. In 1792 Henry Walton Smith and his wife Anna had opened a small newsvendors in Little Grosvenor Street, Henry died soon after and Anna went into partnership with Zaccheus Coates. When Anna died the business transferred to her two sons, one being William Henry Smith and taking advantage of ‘railway mania’ the Euston outlet opened.

On 1 November 1604 Shakespeare’s tragedy Othello was performed for the first time by the King’s Men Company at Whitehall Palace

On 1 November 1959 the M1 Britain’s first motorway opened from London to the North its 70 limit imposed after an AC Cobra was clocked at 196

The sarsen that stands outside the Guildhall in Kingston is known as the Coronation Stone, 7 Saxon kings are said to have been crowned there

The only former Prime Minister to die in 10 Downing Street was Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman saying: “This is not the end of me” – it was!

During Tony Blair’s tenure, 37 computers, 4 mobiles, 2 cameras, a mini-disc player, a video recorder, 4 printers, 2 projectors and a bicycle were stolen from 10 Downing Street

The Tabard Inn which once stood in Talbot Yard behind Guy’s Hospital was the 65-mile fictional starting point of Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales

Covent Garden’s Stukeley Street was formerly Coal Yard where Samuel Pepys saw pretty resident Nell Gwyn standing in a doorway

The German Gymnastic Society, now a restaurant, at King’s Cross established in London in 1861, was Britain’s first purpose-built gymnasium

A signalling box in Tottenham Court Road’s ticket hall sealed in 2013 to be opened in 2063, it contains an Oyster Card and a Baby on Board badge

The King’s cockle-strewer was employed to spread powdered cockleshells on Pall Mall so paille maille could be played in the 17th century

In November 1903 The Daily Mirror was launched from 2 Carmelite Street the paper started well until the owner Alfred Harmsworth allegedly said, “Women can’t read and don’t want to read”

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.