On 23 September 1952 Charlie Chaplin returned to England for the first time in 21 years, told reporters it was a “shock” to see Waterloo Bridge – which has been rebuilt since he was last in the capital. Born in London in 1889, to music hall entertainers, at 5 his mother had a nervous breakdown and his father died, he danced in the street for pennies with his half-brother and was then sent to an orphanage.

On 23 September 1814 work began on the original Southwark bridge by John Rennie, it was built as three cast-iron spans over the river

During World War I a baker on Chapman Street was jailed for 3 days after selling fresh bread, the rationale being fresh bread is difficult to cut thinly, and people would therefore consume more if the slices were thick

Fruit Lines Ltd used to own the wharf at Canary Wharf. It was where they imported fruits mainly from the Canary Islands – hence the name

On 23 September 1897 Britain’s first car fatality occurred when 9-year-old Stephen Kempton cadging a ride was crushed to death when his coat was caught in the driving chain

On 23 September 1941 General de Gaulle formed French government in exile in Carlton Gardens, from 1942–44, he lived in Hampstead

Composer Felix Mendelssohn stayed at 4 Hobart Place, Belgravia, whilst staying here he dined with Isambard Kingdom Brunel and Charles Dickens

In 1736 Fortnum and Mason wrapped hard-boiled eggs in sausage meat and breadcrumbs thus creating the Scotch egg

Polo imported in 1870 by cavalry officers serving in India was first played in Britain on Hounslow Heath and then Richmond Park

Finsbury Park station has murals that show a pair of duelling pistols, harking back to a time when men would visit the park after hours to defend their honour

The first parking ticket was issued to Dr Thomas Creighton on his Ford Popular as he attended a heart attack victim (£2 fine – later rescinded)

On 23 September 1959 the country’s first heleport was opened betweeen Battersea and Wandsworth Bridges

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 16 September 1967 at the last night of the Proms Sir Malcolm Sargent came onto the platform at the end of the concert to huge applause and made his traditional Last Night speech. He died seventeen days later on 3rd October. Since 1968, the year after Sargent’s death, the Proms have begun on a Friday evening rather than as previously a Saturday, and in memory of Sargent’s choral work, a large-scale choral piece is customarily given.

On 16 September 1977 Marc Bolan lead singer of T.Rex died aged 29 when his car crashed into a tree in Barnes a memorial is there

Newgate Prison was renovated with funding provided by London’s famous mayor, Dick Whittington, with a bequest in his will of 1422, the gate and gaol were pulled down and rebuilt

Under Cleopatra’s Needle a time capsule contains cigars, a razor, Queen Victoria’s portrait, newspapers and pictures of 12 English beauties

During the plague a sage said breathing on a chicken for self-diagnosis: if you’re infected the chicken becomes ‘roupy’ and lay rotten eggs

At a Twickenham public park 8 naked ladies disport on fountain rockery so startlingly white during World War II their bums were sprayed grey for the blackout

When Animal Farm was published in 1945 George Orwell was living at 27b Canonbury Square he moved there in the autumn of 1944 after their flat in Kilburn was hit by a  V-1 flying bomb

Tea made its first appearance in London in September 1658, when the new beverage was advertised in a pamphlet by Thomas Garraway, a coffeehouse owner

Griffin Park Brentford FC’s home since 1904 is renowned for being the only English league ground to have a pub on each corner, and the ground is named after one of these

Blackfriars is London’s only station to have entrances on both sides of the Thames, it is world’s largest solar-powered bridge having been covered with 4,400 photovoltaic panels

19th Century ‘pure finders’ wandered London collecting dog faeces required by the many South Bank tanners to purify the leather

Street names that sadly no longer exist include Shiteburn Lane, Pissing Alley, and more than one Gropecunt Lane

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 9 September 1835 the Cruel Treatment of Cattle Act 1822 was amended to include bulls, dogs, bears, goats and sheep, to prohibit bear-baiting and cockfighting, which facilitated further legislation to protect animals which had fought in Southwark’s Bear Garden. A Tudor pastime, huge English Mastiff dogs would be let loose to attack a large bear that had had its teeth filed down and was chained to a stake in the centre of an open arena.

On 9 September 1915 at 10:40pm a Zeppelin bomb fell on The Dolphin, 44 Red Lion Street, Holborn killing three. The clock is frozen at that time

The last person to be executed at the Tower of London was German soldier Josef Jakobs in 1941, shot by a military firing squad

Until 1994 there were no ‘roads’ in the City, there’s now one, Goswell Road becoming part of the Square Mile in 1994 after boundary changes

On 9 September 2012 a dead stowaway was found in Portman Avenue, Mortlake, after trying to enter the country hiding in the landing gear of a plane

In the Old Red Lion, Islington Thomas Paine wrote The Rights of Man and Lenin eavesdropped on conversations via the dumb waiter lift shaft

Peter Cook lived at 17 Church Row, Hampstead where he regularly entertained friends such as Peter Sellars and Willie Rushton

Due to its status as a fashion Mecca and length, Regent Street is also referred to as the ‘Mile of Style’ as distinct from Oxford Street

The London 2012 Olympics organizers wanted Keith Moon to play at Olympics ceremony. They realized later that he had been dead for 34 years

Don’t believe the signs telling you how many steps there are: at Belsize Park Station the sign says 219 steps, but there are actually 189

In 1812 Bryan Donkin and John Hall set up the world’s first canning factory in Blue Anchor Lane, Bermondsey

On 9 September 1911 Gustav Hamel conveyed a bag of mail some 20 miles by air from Windsor to Hendon only one of four to make it that day

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 2 September 1666 in the early hours of that Sunday morning The Great Fire of London started in Pudding Lane. Strong easterly winds spread the fire, by the time it died out 5 days later, at least 13,000 houses; 94 places of worship had been destroyed; and 6 had died. The London mayor expressed a lack of concern that the fire would become dangerous, saying that “a woman might piss it out,” before going back to sleep.

On 2 September 1826 Bartholomew’s Fair opened with a woman sword swallower, a dwarf lady and crocodiles as well as food and beverages

In 1952 a Nigerian visitor was fined £50 for committing an indecent act with a pigeon in Trafalgar Square and £10 for having it for tea

In September 2015 the Royal Vauxhall Tavern was given Grade II listing, the first location in the UK to be listed for LGBT significance

Into computing? Half of Charles Babbage’s brain is preserved at the Science Museum, the other half is at the Hunterian Museum

Peter Piaktow aka Peter The Painter was the anarchist gang leader responsible for the murder of 3 policemen at the Siege of Sidney Street in 1911

The Marianne North Gallery at Kew Gardens holds the record for the longest exhibition by a single female artist in the world

Brick Lane Music Hall, North Woolwich Road in a converted church is the world’s only permanent music hall showing daily Cockney Singsongs

The public reaction to the £400.000 Zion logo for London 2012 Olympics was that it resembles the Simpsons cartoon character, Lisa Simpson performing fellatio

If you say Finsbury Park backwards you get a Krapy Rubsnif and Balham is the only Underground station that doesn’t have any of the letters of the word ‘underground’ in it

Harrod’s has 11,500 bulbs on its façade. To keep its nightly appearance 300 have to be changed every week. But how many men does it take?

Zoological Society of London found that 83 per cent of Londoners when asked to name something commonly found in the Thames declared a shopping trolley

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 26 August 2014 Kate Bush made her stage comeback at London’s Hammersmith Apollo, her first live concert for 35 years. Bush received a standing ovation as she closed the show with Cloudbusting, from her 1985 hit album The Hounds of Love. The 22 shows had completely sold out in less than fifteen minutes, after tickets were released in March of that year. She later introduced one of the backing chorus as her teenage son Bertie.

On 26 August 1974 two cars on Battersea funfair’s big dipper jammed 40ft above ground. After 2 hours 24 people, mostly children were rescued

Winston Churchill attended the scene of the Siege of Sidney Street and narrowly escaped death when a stray bullet was fired through his hat

The first revolving public door in Europe was installed at the Midland Grand Hotel St Pancras in 1873 with 3 compartments to allow for dresses

Steve Mars a BMW fanatic, was buried beneath a life-sized replica M3 convertible in Manor Park Cemetery and a parking ticket was affixed

Above Quo Vadis-Dean Street is the bedsit Carl Marx described an old hovel so dirty that to sit down becomes a thoroughly dangerous business

Bizarrely, the film The Siege of Sidney Street (1960) was filmed in Dublin instead of Sidney Street as Dublin was more like Sidney Street

Regent Street was the location of one of the first late-night shopping events in 1850. Shopkeepers let their stores stay open until 7pm!

Bad weather meant the final two events in the London 1948 London Olympics were held at dusk, with athletes illuminated by car headlights

Waterloo Station is the largest Boris bike docking station. In 2015 bike number 16191 was the most ridden, 2nd was 15901; and 3rd 14630

Pure-finders got 8d a bucket (of dog faeces) from Bermondsey tanners But collecting a bucket may take 2 days so you would guard it all night

Rocky outcrops in St. James’s Park for pelicans to alight are artificial Pulhamite created by James Pulham who took secret recipe the grave

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.