Johnson’s London Dictionary: Oyster Card
OYSTER CARD (n.) So named after the plentiful food eaten by the poor in London. On presentation those without their own sedan may gain access to an omnibus, thus keeping the streets clear of the unwashed
Dr. Johnson’s London Dictionary for publick consumption in the twenty-first century avail yourself on Twitter @JohnsonsLondon
Trivia about, well trivia
In July 2009, for reasons that escape me, I started tweeting daily London trivia and to date, 4,529 pieces of useless information have been put out to anyone who has nothing better to do than read my missives.
Now, I don’t think I’m obsessive, but a quick perusal of my bookshelf I’ve just counted 87 books about London, in addition to a large number of downloads on my Kindle, all, of course, provides a rich seam of trivial information, which are also included in CabbieBlog’s Sunday trivia.
A further search for London trivia on Amazon gave the result of 143 books and downloads I’ve yet to read, and put out in cyberspace.
What’s the point of trivia?
Expanding your knowledge of trivia questions can provide you with a dopamine rush, but should you wish to come down from a non-drug induced high, trivia also helps to engage your frontal cortex, or the part of the brain that plays a major role in the processing of memories (see undertaking The Knowledge elsewhere on this blog), thus keeping the brain sharp and engaged.
Knowledge of trivia, or at least remembering these little snippets of information, is the basis of TV’s quizzes. So again a little bit of basic research gave me 32 quiz programmes broadcast each week on terrestrial television, and there’s even a satellite channel devoted to the pursuit of this stuff.
The world-famous trivia game, Trivial Pursuit, first created in 1979 by Chris Haney and Scott Abbott in Montreal, who had become frustrated to find pieces of their Scrabble game had gone missing is thought to have sparked people’s fascination with trivia and competing to see who knows more odd facts about geography, history, art, science, sports and entertainment.
On Tuesday 4th January 2022 we can all join hands with America on National Trivia Day which little known factoids are celebrated, and here on CabbieBlog I will be posting:
Bermondsey’s Tanner Street, Morocco Street and Old Leathermarket are reminders of when the leather industry was based there #LDNTrivia
You read it here first.
London in Quotations: Nathaniel Hawthorne
London is like the grave in one respect – any man can make himself at home there; and whenever a man finds himself homeless elsewhere, he had better either die or go to London.
Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864), Sketch of the Life of Nathaniel Hawthorne
London Trivia: Beer flood
On 17 October 1814, on the site of the Dominion Theatre a huge vat at the brewery of Manx & Co., containing 135,000 gallons of beer, ruptured. A domino effect caused over 3 million gallons to gush out destroying property and killing seven.
On 17 October 2008 in Hammersmith John Lynch (Prince Albert) was announced the world’s most pierced senior citizen with 241 piercings
In 2005 drug-crazed squirrels eagerly dug up and ate the secreted stash of crack cocaine buried in garden flower beds by a dealer to avoid being caught by police in Brixton
One of the first houses in England to be lit by electricity was that of scientist Sir William Crookes at 7 Kensington Park Gardens
Seven people have died by falling off the Monument to the Great Fire of London before the safety rail was built, curiously the majority were bakers
Had Hitler won World War II he planned to transport Nelson’s Column to Berlin as he believed it was a symbol of British naval supremacy
It was in Room 507 at the Hotel Samarkand, 22 Lansdowne Crescent, Notting Hill that Jimi Hendrix died of a drugs overdose in September 1970
Brixton Market was the first market in London to have electric lighting and stands, as a result, Electric Avenue
In the 16th century Elizabeth I decreed that, ‘no foteballe (football) play to be used or suffered within the City of London’
Arsenal tube station was originally Gillespie Road renamed when the club moved North. It is the only station named after a football team
As well as ferrying passengers from A to B, Watermen would pull bodies from the Thames, landing them at Southwark
The Queen has nine Royal thrones – One at the House of Lords, two at Westminster Abbey, and six in the throne room at Buckingham Palace
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.
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