On 20 April 1901, the final tie for the FA Cup was between Tottenham Hotspur and Sheffield United at Crystal Palace, Sydenham; 114,000 people attended and it ended with a 2-2 draw. It would be replayed at Bolton a week later.

On 20 April 1968 Conservative MP Enoch Powell made his ‘Rivers of Blood’ speech warning about immigration, he was fired from the Cabinet

Magpie and Stump pub until 1868 would charge extra for drinks taken upstairs where punters could enjoy viewing the public hangings at Newgate

At 141ft, Adelaide House was the tallest office block in London when it was completed in 1925 and was the first office building in England to have electric and telephone connections on every floor

Now located in Beckenham, King’s College London Institute of Psychiatry was originaly named bedlam, meaning uproar and confusion

The future Mary II is said to have wept for a day and a half when she was told that she would have to marry William of Orange in 1677

Off Greville Street, Clerkenwell is the cobbled Bleeding Heart Yard mentioned by Charles Dickens in Little Dorrit

The world’s oldest public zoo opened in London in 1828 it was initially known as the ‘Gardens and Menagerie of the Zoological Society of London’

Greyhound racing’s first superstar ‘Mick the Millar’ was so popular his stuffed body was put on display at the Natural History Museum

The Peter Lodge recording of “Mind the Gap” is still in use, but some lines use recordings by a Manchester voice artist Emma Clarke

Tesco was founded in 1924 when Jack Cohen and T. E. Stockwell sold tea in bulk opening a store in Tooting

The corgis also have hot scones every afternoon, served with butter and crumbled onto the kitchen floor by the Queen herself

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 13 April 1984 during an anti-Gadaffi rally at the Libyan People’s Bureau, No. 5 St James’s Square, shots were fired from a window at the Bureau, one of which killed PC Yvonne Fletcher, a few yards away from her fiancé who was also a policeman.

On 13 April 1999 a nail bomb exploded in Brixton, injuring at least 45 people, it was thought that the target was the largely black clientele of Brixton Market

In Oliver Twist Charles Dickens sited Fagin’s Lair in the notorious area that existed around the current Saffron Hill

In the 11th century, Brixton was known as ‘Brixistane’ meaning ‘the stone of Brihtsige’. Locals used the stones as a meeting place

Behind the stalls of Islington’s Sadlers Wells Theatre is the well containing medicinal water which Thomas Sadler found in 1684

The House of Commons’ press gallery bar is named Moncrieff’s in honour of respected political journalist, Chris Moncrieff – a teetotaller

George Orwell used Senate House in Bloomsbury as the inspiration for The Ministry of Truth in his book 1984

Birdcage Walk was the site of the 17th century Royal Aviary. Diarist John Evelyn spotted “many curious kinds of poultry” here

In 1922 in the rafters of Westminster Hall was found a tennis ball dating from before 1520 made of leather and stuffed with dog’s hair

In between Golders Green and Hampstead the tube slows down for the ghost station “Bull and Bush”, a station which was never built

In the early 80’s comic Jo Brand worked as a psychiatric nurse at the Maudsley Hospital, Denmark Hill, a fact of her life she will often talk about

Chains from Brunel’s Hungerford Bridge, demolished in 1864, were re-used as part of the Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol

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 6 April 1580, an earthquake struck London at about 6 pm, half a dozen chimney stacks and a pinnacle at Westminster Abbey came down. Thomas Grey, an apprentice cobbler was killed by falling masonry.

On 6 April 1966 The Beatles recorded the start of their album, ‘Revolver’, with ‘Tomorrow Never Knows’, at Abbey Road Studios

In Oliver Twist Charles Dickens sited Fagin’s Lair in the notorious area that existed around the current Saffron Hill

In the 11th century, Brixton was known as ‘Brixistane’ meaning ‘the stone of Brihtsige’. Locals used the stones as a meeting place

Behind the stalls of Islington’s Sadlers Wells Theatre is the well containing medicinal water which Thomas Sadler found in 1684

On 6 April 1895 Oscar Wilde was arrested for gross indecency and sentenced to 2 years hard labour. At the time homosexuality was a crime

George Orwell used Senate House in Bloomsbury as the inspiration for The Ministry of Truth in his book 1984

Birdcage Walk was the site of the 17th century Royal Aviary. Diarist John Evelyn spotted “many curious kinds of poultry” here

In 1922 in the rafters of Westminster Hall was found a tennis ball dating from before 1520 made of leather and stuffed with dog’s hair

In between Golders Green and Hampstead the tube slows down for the ghost station “Bull and Bush”, a station which was never built

In the early 80’s comic Jo Brand worked as a psychiatric nurse at the Maudsley Hospital, Denmark Hill, a fact of her life she will often talk about

Chains from Brunel’s Hungerford Bridge, demolished in 1864, were re-used as part of the Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol

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 30 March 2002 at 3.15 pm The Queen Mother died peacefully in her sleep aged 101 at the Royal Lodge, Windsor, with The Queen at her bedside. Ten days of national mourning were observed, including a lying-in-state at Westminster Hall, and a ceremonial funeral at Westminster Abbey at 11.30 on Tuesday 9 April. The ashes of her daughter, Princess Margaret, who had died seven weeks previously, were interred at the same time.

On 30 March 1979 Shadow Northern Ireland Secretary Airey Neave was killed by a car bomb as he left the House of Commons car park

In London you may not fly a kite or play games ‘to the annoyance of others’ under regulations enacted under The 1839 Metropolitan Police Act

In Embankment Gardens the York Water Gate was once a river entrance to the Duke of Buckingham’s house when the Thames was wider

On 30 March 1927 Loughton’s Everard Richard Calthrop the inventor of the parachute died, he also patented an ejector seat for aircraft

In the Palace of Westminster cloakroom, there are pink ribbons on all the hangers for MPs to hang up their swords, as they are not permitted to enter the Chamber wearing them

On 30 March 1967 the photo session for the cover of The Beatles Sgt Pepper’s album took place at Chelsea Manor studios

The Castle in Farringdon is the only British pub with its own pawnbroker’s licence (granted on the spot by George IV so he could get cash)

On 12 March 1900 Arsenal recorded their biggest home league (Division 2) win beating Loughborough Town 12-0

The shortest distance between two Underground stations is Piccadilly’s 260 metres between Leicester Square and Covent Garden taking 20 seconds

On 17 March 1845 19th century British inventor and businessman, Stephen Perry, patented the rubber band in London (Patient No. 13880 (1845))

On 30 March 1853 Vincent Van Gogh was born. In 1873 he lived at 87 Hackford Rd, Stockwell and worked in his brother’s Southampton Street gallery

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 23 March 1743 the first London performance of Handel’s Messiah. An account by James Beattie wrote some 37 years later related that King George II while attending the premiere was so overcome by the Hallelujah Chorus, he stood, this forced the entire audience to follow suit. It has since become an annual tradition to stand. Many historians question the authenticity of this charming story.

On 23 March 1889 the free Woolwich ferry service was launched by Sir Joseph Bazalgette, it seems to have been out of commission ever since

Having slid down a chimney teenage street urchin Edward Jones spent weeks wandering around Buckingham Palace hoping to meet Queen Victoria

In 1825 Irish MP Sir Frederick Tench drew up plans for a new Royal palace its approach would need Covent Garden and the West End demolished

The 999 service was introduced to London in 1937, the buzzer which alerted the switchboard operators was so loud that a some of them fainted

The Houses of Parliament has over 1,100 rooms; 100 staircases; 3 miles of corridors and 19 bars and restaurants

The unpopular underground Criterion Theatre opened in 1874 forced air pumps were installed to prevent patrons from suffocating it then flooded

A poll conducted by BBC Radio London found of the world’s 180 countries (some minute) London’s restaurants catered for 123 national dishes

Little Bridge Grounds near Chelsea’s ground held the first amateur boxing matches in 1867 with cups donated by the Marquess of Queensbury

Opening 1863 the Metropolitan Railway between Paddington and Farringdon was the world’s first urban underground passenger carrying railway

Phyllis Pearsall the creator of the A-Z Map is said to have personally walked London’s 23,000 streets to compile her celebrated atlas

Dan Crawford founder of The Kings Head Theatre Islington refused to accept decimal currency they charged and gave change until 2009 in £.s.d

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.