On 16 November 1724 Jack Sheppard, the diminutive 22-year-old thief and working-class hero, was taken from Newgate to Tyburn to be hanged. His hanging was attended by a crowd of 200,000, and he was buried in the churchyard of St Martin-in-the-Fields that evening. He was only twenty- two.

On 16 November 1898 Britain’s first escalator was installed in Harrods, customers were so overcome that attendants were posted at the top to administer brandy to gentlemen and smelling salts to the ladies!

In 1597 Ben Jonson was charged with ‘Leude and mutynous behavior’ and jailed in Marshalsea Prison for co-writing the play The Isle of Dogs

The Fire of London destroyed: 87 churches; Guildhall Royal Exchange; Customs House; 52 company halls; 4 prisons; 3 City gates; 4 bridges; and 13,000 houses

William Cowle died in the upstairs room of the Carlisle Arms, Soho in 1893, by placing a billiard ball in his mouth for a bet

The Ayrton Light atop Parliament’s Elizabeth Tower, popularly known as Big Ben, shines to show that the House is sitting

The ships surmounting flagpoles on The Mall depict Nelson’s fleet who defeated the French at The Battle of Trafalgar

Millwall (Rovers) were formed in the summer of 1885 by workers at Morton’s Jam Factory on the Isle of Dogs

Spurs’ first competitive match was versus St Albans in the London Association Cup in 1885, Spurs won 5-2

Clapham Junction Station is the busiest terminal in Britain once having 2,500 trains per day passing through

The majority of workers at Mortons Jam factory were of Scottish origin, this is the origin of Millwall’s famous blue & white colours

The definition of a Londoner: one who has never been to Madame Tussaud’s; Harrods once claimed to be able to supply elephants

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.