On 9 January 1986 Michael Heseltine quit as Defence Secretary in a row with Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher he flounced out of a meeting at Number 10 saying his views on the future of the Westland Helicopter Company were being ignored. The final straw came when Mrs Thatcher insisted all Heseltine’s public comments on Westland would have to be vetted by officials before release.

On 9 January 1864 the first ‘official’ exhibition football game under FA Rules was at Battersea Park, players were selected by the FA

’Monkey Suckers’ perfected the art of drilling into barrels stored at East End docks then using tube to suck out a bottle, or two, of rum

The lions heads along Victoria and Albert Embankments are a Victorian flood warning system – hence ‘When the lions drink, London will sink’

Both Elizabeth I and Henry VIII were born at the Palace of Placentia in Greenwich, Sir Walter Raleigh was said to have thrown his cloak over a puddle here to prevent Queen Elizabeth getting her feet wet

During the war, special supply trains ran, providing seven tonnes of food and 2,400 gallons of tea and cocoa every night to people staying in the Tube

On 9 January 1951 the first film to receive an X certificate from the British Board of Censors opened in London called Life Begins Tomorrow

If you lunch or dine at the Garrick Club, at the end of the meal the waiter brings in a silver box filled with charcoal biscuits. Why?

Fulham FC are the oldest professional football club in London having been derived from St Andrew’s Church team

On the 9 January 1863 the world’s first underground train travelled its 3.5 mile maiden journey from Paddington to Farringdon

Founded in London by English royal charter in 1670, the Hudson’s Bay Company is the world’s oldest chartered company

On 9 January 1768 the first modern circus was staged in London by Philip Astley following the success of his invention of the circus ring

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 2 January 1911, a botched attempt by Latvian thieves at Houndsditch jewellers and a gunfight resulted in the death of a police officer. They made their escape with its leader the well-known anarchist Peter The Painter and holed up at 100 Sidney Street. A gun battle ensued between 200 police and the fugitives. Home Secretary Winston Churchill was filmed directing police in the operation to apprehend the criminals.

On 2 January 1954 Eddie Calvert started a 9 week run at No.1 with Oh, Mein Papa, the first No.1 to be recorded at Abbey Road Studios

Moll Flanders Daniel Defoe described Newgate Prison as ‘that horrible place’, he should know he was imprisoned there in 1703

You can find Britain’s smallest police station, designed in 1926 to monitor demonstrations, in the south-east corner of Trafalgar Square

In 1906 Messrs Spillberg, Nabian and Aaroris of Nelson Street, Stepney were convicted of smuggling saccharin which then was considered a drug

In 1938 it was found the Woolsack in House of Lords actually contained horsehair rather than wool – it was duly rectified

The on-set voice of HAL in 2001: A Space Odyssey was provided by a crew member, so the actor playing Dave had to respond to broad Cockney

Did you know: Cafe Rouge originally launched (in Richmond, 1984) as Cafe Bleu, but then switched colour?

The longest Rugby drop goal (85 yards) was kicked by Gerry Brand for South Africa against England at Twickenham on 2 January 1932

When Paddington Underground Station, as the western terminus of London’s first underground, opened in January 1863 it was called Bishop’s Road

Fortnum and Mason’s head of bakery is known as ‘Groom of the Pastry’ a tradition dating back two centuries

On 2 January 1608 Limehouse sea-captain Christopher Newport and Virginia settlers arrived in Jamestown, Virginia onboard the Susan Constant

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 26 December 1886, Olympia opened, it was the country’s longest covered show centre. A suite was tacked onto the north side was named the Prince’s Apartments, and was reputedly for Prince Edward’s dalliances.

One hundred years ago on 26 December 1910 the London Palladium was opened – headlining was an actor playing scenes from Shakespeare

Parliament’s jail was last used in 1880 imprisoning atheist Charles Bradlaugh for refusing taking oath of allegiance to the Queen on a Bible

The City of London is the historical core of the English capital. It roughly matches the boundaries the Roman city of Londinium

8 people drowned and 15 buildings were destroyed in the Great London Beer Flood of 1814, a brewery vat burst just behind what is now New Oxford Street and 30,000 gallons of beer flooded the area

As early as 1841 The House of Commons gained its first Asian member when David Ochterlony Dyce Sombre became an MP

The rusty bollards on Bellenden Road were sculpted by Antony Gormley whose studio is nearby, 4 shapes oval, snowman, peg and err . . . penis

Soho was once home to a shop called ‘Anything Left Handed’ selling – you’ve guessed it – household products specifically designed for left-handed people, it is now closed

The 1908 London Olympics 400m final American John Carpenter blocked Wyndham Halswelle, disqualified the other American finalists then refused to re-race, Halswelle jogged alone round the track taking gold

Established in 1890, the City and South London Railway was the first deep-level underground railway in the world, also the first major railway to use electric traction, it became the Northern Line

Clerkenwell was famous for its gin distilleries – Stone’s, Tanqueray’s & Gordon’s – setting up here, they were probably attracted to the region as thirsty cattle drovers passed by en route to Smithfield

Prince Albert did not introduce the first Christmas tree into London, the first was Queen Charlotte, consort of George III, wanting to recreate the German Christmases of her childhood

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 19 December 1666, the Duke of Buckingham had a serious tussle with the Marquess of Dorchester in the House of Lords. Buckingham pulled off the Marquess’s periwig and Dorchester also ‘had much of the Duke’s hair in his hand’. Both offenders were sent to cool down in the Tower, and released after apologising.

On 19 December 1783, William Pitt became the youngest Prime Minister at the age of twenty-four and 205 days

Smoking was banned on the Underground as a result of the King’s Cross fire in November 1987 which killed 31 people. A discarded match was thought to be the cause of that inferno

There are plaques in London to stars of the Carry On films including Joan Sims in Kensington and Hattie Jacques in Earls Court

On 19 December 1851 artist JMW Turner died in Chelsea he left his £140,000 estate for ‘decayed artists’ distant relations took the bequest

During World War II Eastenders would dine on whale meat as it was one ‘meat’ that was in abundance and not rationed the same as beef

On 19 December 1932 the BBC Empire Service was born at Broadcasting House on a budget of £10 per week now the World Service is the world’s largest

It was on Jack Smith’s Berwick Street market stall that the first grapefruit was introduced to London and England in 1890

One of the levels in Tomb Raider 3 is set in the disused Aldwych tube station, featuring scenes of Lara Croft killing rats

It’s proximity to Smithfield Market was a determining factor as to why Farringdon was chosen as the eastern terminus of the first tube line

Edward Johnston designed the typeface for the London Underground in 1916. The font he came up with is still in use today it’s called Johnston Sans

The term Cockney comes from Middle English cockeney, meaning misshapen eggs and was used by country folk to deride those born in the City

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 12 December 1988, three commuter trains crashed near Clapham Junction. One train stopped due to a signal malfunction, another collided into it, while a third train ploughed into the wreckage, 35 died and 415 were injured.

On 12 December 1898, Fulham London’s oldest football club was granted professional status

Serial billiard ball thief Harry Jackson received seven years jail for two convictions – how times have changed

The house numbering in Downing Street used to be different. Number 10 was originally No 5 and did not acquire its present number until 1779

Henry Campbell-Bannerman has been the only British Prime Minister to die at 10 Downing Street. He died there in April 1908

While Cromwell never readmitted Jews a London colony of Sephardic Jews was identified in 1656 and allowed to remain – first time since 1290

In Elizabethan theatre different coloured flags were used to advertise the play’s theme – black flag tragedy, white comedy and red history

Until 1983 women could not be served at the bar in Fleet Street’s El Vino – only when seated at a table served, presumably by a subservient waiter

On 12 December 1988 the first satellite pictures were beamed to over 2,000 London betting shopsbroadcasting live horse racing

The tallest escalator on the Underground is at the Angel with a length of 197ft (making it the world’s longest) and a vertical rise of 90ft

London Scientist Christopher Merret invented sparkling wine in 1662, Champagne didn’t come on the scene until 1697

17th century diarist John Evelyn proposed moving smoky industries out of London and then encircling with ‘sweet-smelling plants and hedges’

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.