On 12 October 1884, the Tower of London Underground Station opened, it had only been in existence for 2 years. Opened during the construction of the Metropolitan Line, but when the Circle Line was created a larger station was required, and so Mark Lane was built as a replacement.

On 12 October 1974 the UK’s first branch of McDonalds opened in Woolwich, it was McDonalds’ 3,000th restaurant. A burger then cost 18p and a ‘Big Mac’ was then called a ‘Big Boy’.

In 1894 Martial Bourdin accidently blew himself up – his funeral sparked riots by 15,000 near the Autonomie Anarchist Club, 6 Windmill Street

The Tower of London once contained a royal residence, barracks, armoury, prison, mint, a menagerie and an observatory

It took Dr John Snow years to persuade the establishment that cholera is the water-borne disease that he proved it to be in Soho in 1854

During the Cold War the statue of St Francis of Asissi at Brompton Oratory was used as a ‘dead letter’ drop for Russian KGB agents

Fassett Square in Dalston was the model for Eastenders’ Albert Square but no pub and the garden is for residents only

Tooting Bec Lido holds 1 million gallons, taking a week to fill, at 300ft x 100ft a maximum of 1,400 swimmers can enter the water at a time

Edgar Kail scored over 400 goals for Dulwich Hamlet FC won 3 England caps and refused to turn professional, Hamlet fans still chant his name

The first deep-level tube trains had no windows, guards called out the station names to advise your location

In the early days of the London and Birmingham Railway conductors travelled outside the train, leaning in through the open windows to check tickets

It would take 7,408 Hula Hoops to reach the height of Big Ben, it’s a claim made by the manufacturers of – well Hula Hoops

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.