On 17 July 1841, the first edition of Punch appeared under the joint editorship of Mark Lemon, Henry Mayhew and Stirling Coyne. A gentleman on an omnibus was seen tossing a copy aside and declaring, ‘One of these ephemeral things they bring out; won’t last a fortnight’.

On 17 July 1895, the Great Wheel built for the Empire of India Exhibition at Earl’s Court was opened to the public on this day and demolished in 1907

‘Monkey Suckers’ perfected the art of drilling into barrels stored at East End docks then using tube to suck out a bottle, or two, of rum

Cheapside get its name from the Saxon word for market – ‘chepe’ as this was London’s main market in medieval times

More than 1,000 bodies are buried underneath Aldgate station, in a plague pit built over 2 weeks in 1665, its location is now Aldgate Underground Station

The last person to be executed at the Tower of London was Josef Jakobs, a German Intelligence agent. He was shot by firing sqaud in 1941

It is probable that Charles Dickens modelled the Cratchit’s house in Camden Town on his first London home at 16 Bayham Street

Samuel Scott’s speciality was to tie a noose around his neck then jump off Waterloo bridge and dance in the air before returning safely, ultimately he didn’t

Fulham FC are the oldest professional football club in London having been derived from St Andrew’s Church team

Farringdon underground station is the only station from which passengers exited en masse on their way to a public hanging

Every July the two companies take part in ‘Swan Upping’ which is the marking and census of all cygnets between Sunbury and Abingdon

In 1949 a flock of starlings landed on the minute hand of Big Ben it put the time back by 4.5 minutes, and snow caused the clock to ring in the New Year 10 minutes late in 1962

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.