On 6 October 1985, after police raided the home of 49-year-old resident Cynthia Jarrett in a futile search for stolen property, causing her such a shock that she died from a heart attack, Broadwater Farm Estate erupted into riots, spreading out across London. In total, 230 police officers were injured and one, PC Keith Blakelock, was killed – stabbed 44 times in a frenzied mob attack. His memorial is located on his regular beat in Muswell Hill.

On 6 October 2007 Jason Lewis completed his ‘self-powered’ 13-year circumnavigation of the earth at Greenwich using bikes, kayaks and roller blades

For years inmates on hard labour at Brixton were required to wash their own laundry and that of Pentonville, Millbank and Wandsworth’s lags

On 6 October 1834 The old Palace of Westminster burned down, caused by the burning of small wooden tally sticks which had been used as part of the accounting procedures of the Exchequer until 1826

Lord Horatio Nelson is buried directly under the centre of the dome of St. Paul’s Cathedral, occupying the best spot as he was the first person of national importance to be buried at the cathedral

The equestrian statue of Charles I in Trafalgar Square has the King facing his place of execution outside Banqueting House in Whitehall

Marylebone Station is the one the Beatles are chased into by fans at the beginning of the film A Hard Day’s Night

Dr Johnson, on a drunken overnight wander with friends, offered to help the Covent Garden stallholders set up, curiously the offer was declined

Opened in 1862 Islington’s Business Design Centre was London’s first multi-purpose indoor arena, an early event was a 6-day walking race

The London Cab Trade is the oldest regulated land passenger service in Britain licensed in 1654 – 150 years before the horse-drawn bus

London’s oldest shop could be the Old Curiosity Shop, Portsmouth Street although it is not thought to be the one featured in Dicken’s novel

When Chad Varah started Samaritans at St Stephens Walbrook he used the church’s huge crypt which had remained undiscovered for centuries

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 29 September 1792 the first church in England since the reformation dedicated to St. Patrick was consecrated in Soho Square, its successor was completed in 1893. It stands on the site of Carlisle House which became a venue for dazzling soirees, recitals and concerts. Once the home of a Venetian courtesan Mrs Cornelys, an opera singer, serial bankrupt and socialite, she had a child fathered by Cassanova.

on 29 September 1829 this Tuesday the first Metropolitan policeman went out in the streets of London from the unfinished Scotland Yard

‘The bells of Old Bailey’ in the nursery rhyme Oranges and Lemons are the bells of St. Sepulchre rung to mark an execution in Newgate Prison

The three Barbican towers were Europe’s tallest residential buildings when built – the drains zig-zag down so nothing hits the bottom too hard

St. Martin-in-the-Fields is the parish church of Buckingham Palace and any baby born at the Palace is entered into its church register

Ravens are kept at The Tower of London for ancient legend predicts that if they should depart the Monarchy will fall

The Beatles filmed the video for Penny Lane in Angel Lane Stratford (very near Olympic site) they didn’t have the time to go up to Liverpool

Mon Plaisir Restaurant, Monmouth Street claims to be London’s oldest French restaurant having been established in the 1940s

In 1702 while riding at Hampton Court William III was thrown when his horse stumbled on a molehill and died as an equestrian statue depicts

There are no Roads in the City of London only Streets, Lanes, Alleys to be named road highway had to be wide enough to allow two carts to pass

City Livery Companies have their halls in the City except The Gunmakers their use of gunpowder it was deemed prudent to locate at a distance

By the early 12th century the population of London was about 18,000 (compare this to the 45,000 estimated at the height of Roman Britain)

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 22 September 1735 Sir Robert Walpole moved into 10 Downing Street. Before taking up residence as Prime Minister, he commissioned William Kent to join the adjacent house at the rear to form a property more suited for a Minister of the Crown. Walpole persuaded Mr Chicken, to move to another house in Downing Street, this small house and the mansion at the back were then incorporated into Number Ten.

On 22 September 1848 John Harold, London’s first case of cholera died at 8 New Lane, Gainsford Street, Horsleydown, Southwark

The smallest prison in London is a single room in the base of the St Stephens Tower in the Houses of Parliament, although never used these days, it is still classed as a state prison

The Ritz was one of the first steel-frame buildings to be erected in Europe. The restaurant has so many chandeliers that its ceiling has had to be specially reinforced

Playwright Richard Brinsley Sheridan died at 14 Savile Row. Whilst laid out in his coffin an overzealous bailiff arrested him for his debts

Christ Church, Lambeth, has a spire decorated with stars and stripes, half the cost of the church was borne by Americans, and the tower commemorates President Lincoln’s abolition of slavery

In the film The Da Vinci Code – The ‘Parisian’ lecture hall, where Tom Hanks gives a lecture is actually Fairfield Halls, Croydon

The Roundhouse in Camden was originally built as a turntable engine shed for the London & Birmingham Railway in 1846, within 10 years the engines were too big for the building to continue to serve its purpose

The 1908 Olympics were heading for Rome until Mount Vesuvius erupted on 5 April 1906 and the Italians suddenly had other priorities, with just two years’ notice, London came to the rescue

Cabbies face a daily £1 fine should he take two consecutive days off ‘without just cause’ according to section 33 of The London Hackney Carriages Act 1843

The Worshipful Company of Clockmakers, one of the Livery Companies of the City of London, was formed by a Royal Charter in 1631 and remains the world’s oldest horological institution

There are now 25 Sherlock Holmes Societies around the world, in countries as diverse as Japan, Israel, India, Australia and Venezuela

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 15 September 1964 the Sun newspaper, printed on Fleet Street, was published for the first time, replacing the Daily Herald promising to follow a ‘radical’ and ‘independent’ agenda – unlike its predecessor the Daily Herald which had strong ties to the Labour party. The TUC sold its 49 per cent stake in the paper in 1960. It hit the streets on the day an announcement of a general election by Prime Minister Sir Alec Douglas-Home.

On 15 September 1928 Scottish bacteriologist Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin while studying influenza at St Mary’s Hospital Medical School, the University of London

Garnet Street was the scene of four victims from the famous Radcliff Murders of 1811, Johnny Speight used the name for his character Alf Garnet

London’s oldest statue King Alfred in Trinity Church Square with an estimated date of 1395 originally stood in the old Palace of Westminster

Europe’s largest crypt is under St. Paul’s Cathedral and the first person to be interred was its architect Sir Christopher Wren

During the First World War Alexandra Palace was used to detain German civilians living in Britain in what was called a concentration camp

The lions of Trafalgar Square were sculpted from life. The artist Landseer used dead lions supplied by London Zoo until neighbours complained of the smell

Gordons Wine Bar is London’s oldest wine bar founded at its present location in 1890 by Arthur Gordon. Current owners are unrelated Gordons

On 15 September 1930, the first international bridge match was held in London United States team defeated England

With 207,000 items handed into Transport for London’s Lost Property Office in Baker Street last year made it the highest total in its 77-year history

N, S, E, and West Tenter Street surrounded a ground where tenters- wooden frames used to stretch woven cloth- were; hence “on tender hooks”

On 15 September 1784 Vincenzo Lunardi commenced England’s 1st hydrogen balloon flight from the Honourable Artillery Company area, Moorfields

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 8 September 1915 the first bomb of World War I to fall on the City of London hit Fenchurch Street; the first bomb of World War II fell at the junction of Wood Street and Fore Street, and curiously on 8 September 1944 the first V2 long-range rocket fell on Chiswick killing three. Altogether 1,050 V2 rockets reached Britain, killing 2,754 and injuring 6,523. For some reason, the Germans liked 8 September to start their assaults.

On 8 September 1961 the gallows at Wandsworth Prison’s E Wing were used for the last time to hang Henryk Niemasz

In 1780 during the Gordon Riots volunteers from the Bank of England repelled rioters using bullets made by melting down their inkwells

Until the 1990s the City’s Square Mile was exactly that, then pesky boundary changes made it an annoying inexact 1.16 square miles

When Humphrey Lyttelton host of Radio 4’s I’m Sorry I Haven’t a Clue died, people left flowers outside Mornington Crescent Tube station

The MI6 building at Vauxhall is as deep below ground as it is tall above-its river frontage is one of the few places inaccessible to walkers

London’s first Punch and Judy show was in 1662 at Covent Garden commemorated by the Punch and Judy pub in the modern Piazza

The oldest gentleman’s club in London is White’s, St James’s Street originally opened in 1693 as a chocolate house which evolved into a club

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

Hardy (as in Nelson’s ‘kiss me ..’) refused to travel from London Bridge station in 1836 because he saw the newfangled trains as ‘too risky’

All-American Marlboro Man’s name comes from London’s Great Marlborough Street, where the cigarette manufacturer had their headquarters

They’re over 25 places in the world called London 17 in the USA, there’s even an asteroid called 8837 London discovered in 1989 by Eric Elst

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.