On 11 March 1708 a Royal prerogative was enacted for the last time when the Scottish Militia Bill, after being passed by The House of Commons, was not given Royal Assent by Queen Anne. On the day the Bill was meant to be signed, news came that the French were sailing toward Scotland, and there was suspicion that the Scottish might be disloyal to the Crown the Monarch vetoed legislation. There is always Brexit though.

On 11 March 1702 Britain’s first daily newspaper the Daily Courant was published by Elizabeth Mallet at her premises at Fleet Bridge

City butchers still can be pilloried if they sell bad meat the 600 year old law states they should smell their meat burnt under their nose

Merchant Tailors Hall still stands where it has been since 1347 what is now Threadneedle Street though much rebuilt after The Great Fire and the Blitz

The gravestone of the famous Elizabethan actor Richard Burbage in the graveyard of St Leonard’s, Shoreditch, reads simply ‘Exit Burbage’

There’s a full snuffbox by the Common’s front door. Smoking has not been allowed since the 17th century so the snuff box is there instead

When Paul McCartney dated Jane Asher he stayed in her family house in Wimpole Street where he wrote hits including Yesterday

At their peak between 1927 and 1939, London boasted no fewer than 27 greyhound tracks, the 1950s neon sign on the back of the Tote Board at the closed Walthamstow Stadium are both listed Grade II

The Arsenal Supporters Club magazine Gunflash, first issued in 1949 is considered the oldest publication of its kind in Britain

Seven London Boroughs are not served by the underground system, six of them being situated south of the River Thames

Today there are 35 Yeoman Warders at the Tower of London, the same number the men who guarded it 600 years ago

Lent gave us the full English breakfast – the Monday before it was ‘Collop Monday’, when you ate up all your perishable sausages and bacon

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 4 March 1824 curiously many miles from sea at The Tavern in Bishopsgate Street, George Hibbert and Sir William Hillary organised a meeting which resulted in the establishment of The National Institution for the Preservation of Life from Shipwreck, thus absolving the Government’s obligation to save lives at sea. Today it is known as The Royal National Lifeboat Institution, whose brave volunteers save many souls each year.

On 4 March 1967 Queens Park Rangers became the first football club to win the ‘League Cup at Wembley Stadium’ when they beat West Bromwich Albion 3-2

Given the Freedom of the City of London you can insist if you’re sentenced to hang, the execution can only be carried out using a silk rope

On 4 March 1903 on the site of more than 100 Catholic Reformation Martyrs the Tyburn Convent opened at 8 Hyde Park Place

Polly the Parrot at the Cheshire Cheese Public House fell of her perch with exhaustion after she imitated 400 times popping corks at the end of World War I

In the Members’ Lobby are statues and busts of past prime ministers. Members touch their favourite before they give a speech for good luck

Neo-classical Dulwich Picture Gallery designed by Sir John Soane is 200 years old and was England’s first purpose built public art gallery

During the 18th century you could pay your admission ticket to the zoo in London by bringing a cat or a dog to feed the lions

Rugby netball, dreamt up by soldiers in 1907, and has been played on Clapham Common ever since is thought to be the only place in the world where it is played

The first London bus service was established in 1829 and ran between Paddington and Bank carrying 22 people and was pulled by three horses

The Pearly Kings and Queens were originally the ‘aristocracy’ of the costermongers and were elected to safeguard their rights from competitors

The Royal Lancaster Hotel on the edge of Hyde Park has installed beehives on its roof with bee keepers harvesting their honey for the guests

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.