On 3 March 1943 the worst loss of life during World War II in a single event took place at Bethnal Green Station when a mother carrying a child was hurrying down the steps to shelter during an air raid. She fell and an elderly man tripped on top of her. In the panic 178 people died including the baby. News of the disaster was withheld for 36 hours. It was not until 50 years after the disaster that a discreet plaque was erected at the site.

On 3 March 1982 the Queen opened the £153 million Barbican Centre, the largest arts centre in western Europe built on the site of Cripplegate, which was destroyed by Nazi bombers in World War II

In 1809 audiences at the Covent Garden Theatre rioted for 60 nights when the management increased ticket prices

Westminster Catholic Cathedral stands on the foundations of Tothill Fields Prison demolished in 1884. The prison’s foundations were re-used for the cathedral

Writer and Garrick member AA Milne left part of his estate to the club, in 2001 the club sold its interest (incuding Winnie the Pooh) to Disney

In 1972 William Whitelaw (Northern Ireland Secretary) secretly met Martin McGuiness and Gerry Adams at 96 Cheyne Walk, Chelsea

It was at The Criterion Long Bar where Dr Watson first met Sherlock Holmes (in Colan Doyle’s – A Study in Scarlet)

Author George Bernard Shaw once spent an evening dancing around Fitzroy Square after watching an Italian dancer at the Alhambra Theatre

The highest temperature recorded at the London Marathon 21.7C degrees on 22 April 2007: coldest 13 years previously in 1994 at 7.6C degrees

Approaching J15 on the M25 it has two six-lane carriageways, the widest stretch of motorway in the country, and yet it still gets jam-packed

Alexander Graham Bell made Britain’s first telephone call from Brown’s Hotel in 1876, the hotel to this day honours Bell’s legacy with the Alexander Graham Bell Room, with its antique telephone

In 1912 workmen found a chest buried on the corner of Cheapside and Friday Street, containing jewellery, gemstones, gold, rings and brooches

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 24 February 1857 Buckingham Palace announced that 62 veterans of the Crimean War would be the first-ever recipients of the Victoria Cross, the highest award of the honours system. Crafted from Russian guns seized at Sebastopol. Awarded for gallantry ‘in the face of the enemy’ the medal has been awarded 1,358 times to 1,355 individual recipients. Only 15 medals have been awarded since World War II.

On 24 February 1601 Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, was beheaded at the Tower of London for leading a rebellion against Queen Elizabeth I

Architect Harry Newton in 1861 suggested building a pair of massive mid-stream islands on the Thames to house the Central Criminal Courts

Next to Barclays on Fleet Street is a half-timbered house over the gateway to the Temple, it survived the Great Fire and dates back to 1600

London is the greenest city of its size in the world, literally – 40 per cent of Greater London is made up of green, open spaces

On 24 February 1920 Nancy Astor, the first woman MP made her maiden speech, becoming the first woman to speak in Parliament

John Lennon and Paul McCartney wrote I want to hold your hand and Eleanor Rigby at 57 Wimpole Street (McCartney’s attic flat)

On being shown Louis XIV’s embalmed heart the Dean of Westminster eat it claiming “I’ve eaten most things, but never the heart of a king”

Only two MPs have run the London Marathon under 3 hours, best Matthew Parris at 2:32.57 in 1985 and Doug Henderson achieved 2:52.24 in 1989

Only 45 per cent of the Underground is actually in tunnels and the deepest station is Hampstead on the Northern line, which runs down to 58.5 metres

Cockfosters is a very old area, previously known as ‘Cock Fosters’ and is believed to have originally meant the residence of the cock, or chief forester

The $100bn International Space Station controlled from Korolyov, Moscow, and Houston, Texas is operated using Greenwich Mean Time

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.