On 9 November 1783 the first public hanging outside Newgate Prison took place when 10 criminals were hanged with the ‘new drop’ system, devised by Edward Dennis, the hangman, he was no saint either. He had been imprisoned in Newgate in 1780 and sentenced to death for taking part in the Holborn riots. He was later reprieved so he could hang his fellow rioters.

On 9 November 1947 a telerecording was used for the first time when the Remembrance Service from the Cenotaph was filmed by the BBC and recorded for transmission that evening

In 1415 following the Battle of Agincourt the Duke of Orleans, prisoner in the Tower of London, sent his wife the first ever valentine card

Blackfriars Bridge has several pulpits along its flank homage to Blackfriars Monastery which stood here until it was dissolved by Henry VIII

Domestic servants with visible smallpox scars were preferred to those unmarked, proof that they would not bring smallpox into the household

Theobalds Road was once a track that led to the Stuart kings’ hunting grounds at Theobalds Park in Hertfordshire

The dinner party attended by Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant in the film Notting Hill was held at 91 Lansdowne Road, Notting Hill

Tradition has it that Pimlico is named after Ben Pimlico, a 17th Century Hoxton brewer who supplied London with a popular Nut Brown ale

The world’s oldest cricket ball dates from 1820, was swatted over a 3 day period during William Ward’s record innings of 278 at Lord’s its present home

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

Arsenal were founded as Dial Square in 1886 by workers at the Royal Arsenal in Woolwich, but were renamed Royal Arsenal shortly afterwards

The world’s first weather forecast was issued from Greenwich Royal Observatory in 1848 by James Glaisher

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.