On 14 October 1969 the new 50-pence coin sparked confusion when it came into circulation replacing the 10/- note. Some complained that it was too easily confused with the 10p coin or half crown. One Londoner told the Evening News he accidentally left a 50p coin in a saucer full of 10ps as a tip for a waiter. “Fortunately the waiter was dead honest and told me. But I suspect there’ll be a lot of cases where that doesn’t happen”.

On 14 October 1644 William Penn, founder of the colony of Pennsylvania, was born in The Liberty of the Tower of London

During the 1860s, London’s most notorious prison, Newgate, became a kind of theatre, visitors could tour the prison being briefly locked in a windowless cell was one of the highlights

On Blackfriars Bridge the side facing out to sea is decorated with marine birds, the inland side is adorned with freshwater birds

On 14 October 1877 Cleopatra’s Needle, en route from Egypt to London, almost sank during a storm in The Bay of Biscay, six died

The City of London has never been under the authority of the monarch. The Queen may only enter the Square Mile of the City if she is given permission by the Lord Mayor

The bronze statue of Peter Pan was erected in Kensington Gardens in 1912. It marks the spot where J M Barrie first met Jack Llewellyn Davies, the boy who was the inspiration for Peter

By 1870 there were 20,000 public houses and beer shops in London, today according to the Campaign for Real Ale at least 10 are closing every week

The Oval held a particular attraction for the United States billionaire philanthropist, J. Paul Getty II, who built a replica of the ground at his estate at Wormsley Park in Buckinghamshire

London Heathrow Airport is the world’s busiest airports by international passenger traffic, and the third for total traffic

Over 800 members of staff are based at Buckingham Palace, some of the more unusual jobs include fendersmith, clockmaker and flagman

South Kensington is still sometimes referred to as ‘Little Paris’ the area is not only known for its Francophile bookshops but also its French doctors and dentists

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 7 October 1986 the Independent newspaper hit London’s streets challenging the dominance of the Guardian. In March 1992, during the general election of that year, the Indy’s circulation reached 440,000, overhauling The Times. Murdoch’s response was to cut the price of The Times, the paper’s response was to raise its own cover price. In true Indy fashion it would be published until its closure as a print version on 20 March 2016.

On 7 October 1806 carbon paper patented in London by inventor Ralph Wedgewood, saturated paper with printer’s ink, and then dried it out between sheets of blotting paper

Rudolf Hess was the last prisoner to be kept in the Tower of London, in 1941, after the plane he had been flying solo crashed in Scotland

St George the Martyr, Borough has 4 clock faces only 3 are illuminated as the 4th faces Bermondsey who refused to contribute to the funding of the building

A ‘cockney’s luxury’ is the slang term for breakfast in bed, followed by a good defecation in a chamber pot – just saying

In 1815, West Hampstead was such a quiet, rural enclave, that its residents were reported to have heard the cannon fire from the Battle of Waterloo at Brussels

Both Hampstead’s New End Theatre and Knightsbridge’s Pizza On the Park were entertainment venues converted from hospital mortuaries

Opened in 1652, Pasqua Rosee’s was the first coffee house in London. It was located on St Michael’s Alley and burned down during the Great Fire of 1666

London’s oldest surviving sports structure dates from 1534 and is the wall of a tennis court built at Whitehall Palace by Henry VIII, which now forms part of the Cabinet Office, backing onto Downing Street

Five stations on the Underground system are named after pubs: Elephant and Castle, Angel, Swiss Cottage, Royal Oak and Manor House

The first all-British plane was constructed under the viaduct on Walthamstow Marshes in 1909. Alliott Verdon Roe flew for record 280 metres

In 1994 The Stage newspaper advertised for streetwise, outgoing, ambitious girls auditioning at Dreamworks in Mayfair from 400 five became Spice Girls

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.