On 6 June 1585 according to John Stow, a school for thieves was discovered in Billingsgate. A pocket and purse guarded by a bell would sound if touched by a clumsy thief. A pickpocket was called a ‘foyster’ and a cut-purse a ‘nypper’.
On 6 June 1922 Child Whispers, Enid Blyton’s first book, was published, it was written whilst she was governess to the four children 207 Hook Road, Chessington
The last man in Britain to be hanged for killing a police officer was Guenther Podola at Wandsworth Prison in 1959
The Savoy Hotel has a permanently lit gas lamp near the river entrance powered by methane gas from the sewers
John Keats trained as an apothecary/surgeon at Guy’s hospital but he gave up surgery for a precarious existence as a poet
Number Ten Downing Street has two front doors, rotated to allow maintenance. The zero is at a slight angle to mimic an earlier one that slipped
In 1905 millionaire George Kessler flooded the Savoy’s courtyard to float a gondola, a birthday cake on an elephant’s back and Caruso singing
A stone in the beer garden wall at the Prospect of Whitby, Wapping identifies the wall as the boundary between Wapping and Limehouse
The ‘Ashes’ are displayed at Lords but the cricket match that led to the ashes being presented is played at the Oval
The first commercial flight from Heathrow was made on 1 January 1946 by South American Airways bound for Buenos Aires in a civilian Lancaster
1757 saw publication of Harris’ List of Covent Garden Ladies a directory of prostitutes and their special skills, it was very popular!
In January 2005, in an attempt to alleviate a problem with loitering young people, the London Underground announced it would play classical music at problem stations
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.
The only one I knew was The Prospect of Whitby. I have spent a lot of time in that old pub.
Best wishes, Pete.
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The gas lamp behind the Savoy is fairly common knowledge, the rest are pretty obscure.
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