On 27 October 1986 the London Stock Exchange rules changed. Dubbed the ‘Big Bang’, open-outcry, the system which had dominated the buying-and-selling of shares was ditched. Traders no longer had to bark their orders across trading pits or catch the attention of market makers with hand signals. Electronic trading was in, stocks could be bought and sold from upstairs, from the comfort of a leather-back chair with a coffee.

On 27 October 1997 the river dredger, MV Sand Kite, sailing in thick fog, collided with one of the Thames Barrier’s piers

Burlington Arcade was built to remove an alleyway beside Lord Burlington’s mansion from which dead cats were thrown into his back garden

The two golden pineapples over main entrance of St. Paul’s Cathedral – a very expensive insisted by Wren – are a symbol of hospitality

Great Ormond Street was the first hospital in England exclusively for children when it opened in 1851 42 per cent of deaths were children under 10

On 27 October 1968 over 6,000 marchers faced up to police in Grosvenor Square, they had broken away from an anti-Vietnam march facing up to police for 3 hours

London’s largest collection of Buddhas can be found in Soho’s Fo Guang Temple Margaret Street formerly All Saints’ Church

The top 50 tourist attractions in the world 6 are in London Trafalgar Square is 4th with 15 million visitors a year 44th is the London Eye

Wimbledon 1992 Mens Singles Final Goran Ivaniševic was warned for swearing in Croatian, the umpire realised as TV viewers rung in complaining

The custom of standing right on escalators started with a diagonal end to early ones and a sign saying “Step off: right foot first”

When St Pauls Cathedral neared completion its elderly architect Sir Christopher Wren was hauled to the roof by bucket and rope to inspect it

In the cloisters of Westminster Abbey is Britain’s the oldest door, in good nick, considering it was made in 1050 before the Norman Conquest

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.

On 20 October 1927 in celebration of the Battle of the Marne, when the German army was stopped before capturing Paris in August 1914, Emile Guillaume’s 16ft statue of a naked woman holding a sword aloft – ‘La Déliverance’ – was unveiled at Henly’s Corner on the North Circular Road. A gift from press baron Lord Rothermere, the statue has had a number of local names including ‘Dirty Gertie’, and due to corrosion ‘Gangrene Gertie’.

On 20 October 1862 serial killer Catherine Wilson was the last woman to be publicly hanged in London, was thought to have poisoned six victims

The narrowest house in London lies next door to Tyburn Convent and was built to block a passage used by grave robbers, it is one metre wide

The 15th Century Crosby Hall once home to Thomas More was moved from Bishopsgate to current Chelsea riverside location in 1910

Lionel Logue who cured King George of his stammer had his practice at 146 Harley Street from 1926 to 1952 in the film Portman Place was used

The first bomb to be dropped on London by Zeppelins is commemorated by a plaque at 31 Nevill Road, N16

The Trafalgar Square lions were sculpted from life Landseer used dead lions supplied by London Zoo until neighbours complained of the smell

On Tower Hill is an entrance to the 1870 Tower Subway. You could ride under the river in a carriage pulled by cable

On 5 March 1870 the first ever International Football match was held at The Oval – England vs Scotland – the first of many England draws 1-1

London Bridge became so congested that in 1722 it became the first place in Britain where it was made compulsory to drive on the left

The weathervane on the Royal Exchange in the City is a grasshopper not a cock, the former being the crest of its founder Sir Thomas Gresham

The Queen’s jewellery collection is so extensive it has to be stored in a room the size of an ice rink, 40ft below Buckingham Palace

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.