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.