On 22 October 1910 Dr. Hawley Crippen was convicted at the Old Bailey of his wife’s murder. The police had found the gruesome remains of a body beneath the coal cellar of his house, wrapped in a male pyjama jacket and identified as his wife Cora, it had no head, no limbs, no bones and no genitals, but there were traces of a poison that Crippen was discovered to recently purchased. Recent analysis of the remains indicate that the corpse found in his house were not female.

On 22 October 1974 a bomb exploded in Brooks Club injuring three members of staff, one of the first on the scene was Conservative Party leader Edward Heath who was dining nearby

At Newgate 1789 Catherine Murphy was the last woman to executed by burning however all was not so as she had been hanged first for coining

The 5-star Lanesborough Hotel was built by James Lane, 2nd Viscount Lanesborough in 1719 before becoming St George’s Hospital in 1733

When Augusta of Saxe-Coburg married Frederick, Prince of Wales in 1736 she was sick down her dress, an ill omen he died before being crowned

Longest Budget speech ever: Gladstone, 1853 – 4hrs 45mins. Drank sherry and beaten egg, the budget only time any MP is allowed alcohol in the chamber)

Ray Davis originally wrote about Liverpool sunset in a nod to The Beatles but was persuaded to eulogise about the city that he loved

In the 80s Cynthia Payne was convicted of running a brothel at 32 Ambleside Avenue, Streatham, luncheon vouchers paid for personal services

The Wimbledon Championships held annually since 1877 at the All-England Club is the oldest tennis tournament in the world

Over 47 million litres water are pumped from the Tube each day, enough to fill a standard leisure centre swimming pool every quarter of an hour

A Billingsgate porter’s hat aka ‘bobbin’ is made of wood and leather to support heavy boxes of fish. The upturned brim captures the fish juice

The TARDIS, (Dr Who’s transport) can be found outside Earl’s Court station. Or at least an old police call box can

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 October 1702 the first model for Britannia died from smallpox. Lady Frances Teresa Stewart, Duchess of Richmond and Lennox had been mistress to King Charles II and sat for the first portrait of Britannia. The Duchess was Diana, Princess of Wales’s great-great-great-great-grandmother. Britania was featured on all modern British coinage series until the redesign in 2008, in 2015 a new definitive £2 coin was issued, with a new image of Britannia.

On 15 October 1066 rumours circulated in London that King Harold had only been wounded that would have been one in the eye for the Normans

Number 17 Wimpole Mews was the home of society Osteopath Stephen Ward who became embroiled in the 1963 Profumo scandal

Lower Robert Street is the only remnant of underground streets below the Adelphi buildings built by the Adam brothers in 1773

Bethnal Green residents once knew Bethnal Green Gardens as ‘Barmy Park’ after a lunatic asylum formerly situated there

Edward VI punished Westminster Abbey (St Peter’s) by diverting their funding to St Paul’s hence the phrase ‘Robbing Peter to pay Paul’

In the central courtyard of the Victoria and Albert museum is a memorial to Jim, faithful dog of Henry Cole, the museum’s first director

The Palace Theatre at corner Charing Cross Road and Shaftesbury Avenue was the venue of the first Royal Command Performance in 1919

Only since the 1700s has Chelsea been known as that, before it was Chelsey, Chelceth; Chelchith. Doomsday Book lists Cercehede; Chelched

The phrase “Mind the gap” dates back to 1968. The recording that is broadcast on stations was first done by Peter Lodge, who had a recording company in Bayswater

Howard House, 14 Fournier Street, Spitalfields is where the silk for Queen Victoria’s coronation gown was woven

The City of London the historical core of the Capital, roughly matches the boundaries the Roman city of Londinium and of medieval London

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.