On 17 March 1968, an anti-Vietnam war rally with 10,000 protesters held at Trafalgar Square turned violent when a large group marched to the American embassy in Grosvenor Square. Hundreds of police surrounded the building, which at that time was not protected by anti-terror barricades. Violence flared and by the end of the day, 246 had been arrested, of which 7 were imprisoned and 91 police injured.

On 17 March 1845 the rubber band was patented by Stephen Perry, it was made to secure papers, early versions were made of vulcanised rubber

Anne Morrow might have regretted marry three times while dressed as a man when she was permanently blinded by missiles while being pilloried

The Serpentine was the world’s first artificial pond designed not to look manmade when the River Westbourne was diverted in 1730

Holy relics kept at Westminster Abbey included: Virgin Mary’s girdle; Mary Magdalene’s hair; a phial of Christ’s blood and St. Benedict’s head

So unpopular he was deposed in 1688 but before going into exile King James II petulantly threw the Great Seal of State into the Thames

The statute of Field Marshal Lord Woseley on Horse Guards Parade was cast in bronze from recycled from captured enemy cannon

Theatre Royal, Haymarket was the third theatre to get a royal licence, it was granted after the owner broke his leg falling from the Duke of York’s horse in 1766

The youngest rower to win the University Boat Race is Matt Smith who at 18 years 255 days won with Oxford in March 2000

The longest journey in a car (1988 Volkswagon Scirocco) powered by coffee was from London to Manchester (337km) in March 2010

At Forty Hall, Enfield 15 acres of grapes are growing – the purpose is to start London’s first commercial vineyard since medieval times

50 Berkeley Square was once the home of George Canning, Britain’s shortest-serving prime minister and claims to be the most haunted building in 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.

On 10 March 1906, rumoured to have been funded by a few businessmen wanting to get to and from Lord’s Cricket Ground during Test Matches, the Baker Street and Waterloo Underground Line was opened. ‘Bakerloo’ was first coined by the Evening News. The trains ran between Baker Street and Lambeth North. It is now the 9th busiest line on the network, carrying over 111 million passengers annually.

On 10 March 1886 the First Great Terrier Show precursor to Cruft’s was organised in London by Spratt’s dog biscuit salesman Charles Cruft

Temple Bar on Fleet Street displayed decapitated traitors heads on spikes after being boiled in brine and cumin seeds to deter pecking birds

On Knight’s Road Docklands the world’s largest tin of syrup is affixed to Tate & Lyle’s factory producing the world’s oldest branded product

In his will Dickens stipulated that no monuments be erected to his memory, that’s why London has no statues of one of its greatest writers

On 10 March 1914 suffragette Mary Richardson attacked Velazquez’s painting the Rokeby Venus, hanging in the National Gallery, with an axe

Now charmingly inaccurate, the life-sized models of dinosaurs in Crystal Palace Park, constructed in the 1850s were the first in the world

The basement at 27 Endell Street was once the animal depot for West End theatres once two bulls escaped liberating a menagerie on Soho streets

A white strip near BBC White City marks the finish of the world’s first modern marathon in 1908 originally 25 miles extended to 26m 385yards

Early rear view mirrors in taxis couldn’t be adjusted allegedly to prevent drivers from ogling the legs of their lady passengers

South Bank’s Anchor Brewery, once the largest brewery in the world, all that remains is the old brewery tap the Anchor Tavern on Park Street

Burrell & Co on Blasker Walk Docklands once manufactured dyes, red smoke from the chimneys would tint the local pigeons rose-pink

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 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 25 February 1888 Annie Millwood was admitted to Whitechapel Workhouse Infirmary with stabs to her legs and lower torso it was believed to be the first Ripper victim. Severn Klosowski was hanged on 7 April 1903 for the poisoning of his wife, his three other spouses had died under mysterious circumstances. Inspector John Abberline the policeman in charge of the Ripper case suspected Klosowski was also the Ripper.

On 25 February 1899 Edwin Sewell became the first to die in a car accident when the rear wheels collapsed testing a Daimler down Grove Hill, Harrow

In Wapping bodies of hanged pirates were left in the Thames for three tides to wash over them before being removed for burial

From 1808 to 1814 Hampstead Heath had a shutter telegraph chain conveying information by visual signals, using towers with pivoting shutters, connecting the Admiralty to naval ships in Great Yarmouth

Missionary David Livingstone laid in repose at 1 Savile Row, HQ of the Royal Geographical Society, now it’s the bespoke tailors Gieves and Hawkes

Thatcher used to stand on a chair in her Commons room to check the top of the door, “It’s the way you know if a room’s really been cleaned”

The fictitious station of Walford East, which features in the long-running soap opera Eastenders, is supposed to be on the District Line

Upper Street, nicknamed as Supper Street, has more bars and restaurants than any other street in the United Kingdom

Formed in 1886 Queen’s Park Rangers have moved 15 times and had 12 grounds, a record for any other London football club

The Seven Sisters Underground station is believed to have been named after a line of elm trees which stood nearby until the 1830s

In South Street, Mayfair there is a plaque to Catherine Walters known as ‘Skittles’ and described as London’s last Victorian Courtesan

The Museum of London has a whole drawer of codpieces that one embarrassed Victorian curator catalogued as ‘shoulder pads’

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 18 February 1478 George Duke of Clarence was drowned in a butt of Malmsey wine at the Tower of London. Convicted of treason against his brother, Edward IV, and was executed by this dubious method. It was said to have been instigated by his brother Richard Duke of Gloucester. It was Dick, the last Plantagenet who on 22 August 1485 would die on Bosworth Field, presumably more sober than his late brother did.

On 18 February 1901 Winston Churchill made his maiden speech in The House of Commons, justifying the burning of Boer farms

In the 16th century, a London law forbade wife beating after 9:00pm, but only because the noise disturbed people’s sleep

The settled road surface of Charterhouse Square, laid down in the 1860s has been given Grade II listed status by English Heritage

Playwright Ben Jonson couldn’t afford normal burial in Westminster Abbey determined by plot size was buried upright standing for an eternity

During the outbreak of World War II London Zoo killed all their venomous animals in case the zoo was bombed and the animals escaped

The Reform Club in Pall Mall is the fictional start to Jules Verne’s book Around The World In Eighty Days later made into a film

London has the oldest bicycle shop in the world (Pearsons of Sutton, established as a blacksmiths in 1860), and the second oldest cycle track in the world, Herne Hill, opened in 1891

Twickenham and Harlequins home Twickenham Stoop are a mere 700 yards apart, nowhere in London are two such high profile stadiums in such close proximity

The first crash on the Tube occurred in 1938 when two trains collided between Waterloo and Charing Cross, injuring 12 passengers

Gropecunt Lane once ran north from Cheapside so called as it was a famous haunt of prostitutes it was renamed by kllljoys in the Reformation

On 18 February 1888 the very first Salvation Army hostel was opened by General William Booth at 21 West India Dock Road

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.