On 24 August 1795 the Revd Samuel Henshall, later vicar of St. Mary-le-Bow, was granted patent number 2061 for the first corkscrew, with a button on top to break any residual bond between cork and bottle-top.

On 24 August 1967 two penguins from Chessington Zoo were taken on a day trip to Streatham ice-rink to cool off as temperatures reached 80F

Transport for London Byelaw 10(2): No person shall enter through any train door until any person leaving by that door has passed through it!

Once Britain’s largest enclosed space, if measured, the air within the Albert Hall would weigh in at over 30 tons

John St. John Long appeared at the Old Bailey on a charge of manslaughter, his victim dosing on his medicated vapours, he paid the £13,000 fine from his vast wealth accululated from selling quack remedies

The Dorchester was seen as safe during the Blitz it is built using 2,000 miles of steel rods, a host of political and military luminaries chose it as their London residence

St. George Church, Mayfair designed by John James, one of Sir Christopher Wren’s assistants, when completed in 1725 was the first church in London to be built with a portico

There are three tube stations on the Monopoly board: Liverpool Street Station, King’s Cross and Marylebone

The foppish son and heir apparent of King George II died in Leicester House as a result of being struck in the throat with a cricket ball

Underground’s longest tunnel is from East Finchley to Morden totalling 17.3 miles but only 45 per cent of the network is actually in tunnels

The Daily Courant was London’s original newspaper first published in 1792 near Ludgate Circus, consisting of a single page, with advertisements on the reverse side

The Constable of The Tower of London can extract a barrel of rum from any naval vessel plying the Thames

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.