On 15 November 1977, Princess Anne gave birth to Peter Mark Andrew Phillips at St. Mary’s Hospital, Paddington. The child was the first royal baby to be born a commoner for more than 500 years. Unlike other commoner’s births the royal gynaecologist, George Pinker, also attended the birth. Fortunately for the princess, the tradition requiring a government minister to witness royal births had ended.

On 15 November 1712 the Duke of Hamilton and Lord Mohun duelled in Hyde Park, Mohun’s second killed Hamilton and Mohun died later from his injuries

In 1415 following the Battle of Agincourt the Duke of Orleans, prisoner in the Tower of London, sent his wife the first ever valentine card

Blackfriars Bridge has several pulpits along its flank homage to Blackfriars Monastery which stood here until it was dissolved by Henry VIII

Domestic servants with visible smallpox scars were preferred to those unmarked, proof that they would not bring smallpox into the household

Theobalds Road was once a track that led to the Stuart kings’ hunting grounds at Theobalds Park in Hertfordshire

The dinner party attended by Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant in the film Notting Hill was held at 91 Lansdowne Road, Notting Hill

Tradition has it that Pimlico is named after Ben Pimlico, a 17th Century Hoxton brewer who supplied London with a popular Nut Brown ale

The world’s oldest cricket ball dates from 1820, was swatted over a 3 day period during William Ward’s record innings of 278 at Lord’s its present home

On Tower Hill is an entrance to the 1870 Tower Subway. You could ride under the river in a carriage pulled by cable

Arsenal were founded as Dial Square in 1886 by workers at the Royal Arsenal in Woolwich, but were renamed Royal Arsenal shortly afterwards

The world’s first weather forecast was issued from Greenwich Royal Observatory in 1848 by James Glaisher

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 8 November 1974, Lord Lucan vanished without trace. The previous evening his children’s nanny, Sandra Rivett, was bludgeoned to death in the basement of his children’s home at 46 Lower Belgrave Street. As the police began their murder investigation, Lucan telephoned his mother, asking her to collect the children, and then drove a borrowed Ford Corsair to a friend’s house in Uckfield then vanished.

On 8 November 1429 the Duke of Norfolk crashed his barge into London Bridge, but survived by climbing a rope onto the bridge

On 8 November 2002 an arsonist burned down the Lock Keeper’s Cottage, Old Ford Lock, original location of Channel 4’s Big Breakfast

In Star Yard Holborn stands a late Victorian gents’ ‘pissoir’. Another one in is to be found in Twickenham, a similar example is in Regency Street

In 19th century London, middle class men lived to 45, workmen and labourers life spanned half that time and children were lucky to survive until five

It was at the Merchant Taylor’s Hall, in 1607 in honour of King James I, that the National Anthem was first sung

The West End’s oldest theatre, Theatre Royal Drury Lane, is also reported to be haunted by the Victorian music hall star and panto dame Dan Leno, whose spirit is said to exude the scent of lavender oil

You are allowed to use a camera in a London Royal Park, but not a tripod, nothing is mentioned about the use of a monopod

Richmond Golf Club’s 1940 rules: Known unexploded bombs are marked by red flags at a not guaranteed safe distance, a player whose stroke is affected by a explosion may play another ball from the same place

There are thirty-three bridges of all types across the tidal Thames up to Teddington Lock, a distance of just under 99 miles

Filming on location in the Underground costs £500 per hour (plus VAT) unless you have a crew of less than five

At 440 feet the village of North End on the edge of Hampstead Heath is the highest inhabited point 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 1 November 1848, the first WH Smith bookstall opened at Euston station. In 1792 Henry Walton Smith and his wife Anna had opened a small newsvendors in Little Grosvenor Street, Henry died soon after and Anna went into partnership with Zaccheus Coates. When Anna died the business transferred to her two sons, one being William Henry Smith and taking advantage of ‘railway mania’ the Euston outlet opened.

On 1 November 1604 Shakespeare’s tragedy Othello was performed for the first time by the King’s Men Company at Whitehall Palace

On 1 November 1959 the M1 Britain’s first motorway opened from London to the North its 70 limit imposed after an AC Cobra was clocked at 196

The sarsen that stands outside the Guildhall in Kingston is known as the Coronation Stone, 7 Saxon kings are said to have been crowned there

The only former Prime Minister to die in 10 Downing Street was Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman saying: “This is not the end of me” – it was!

During Tony Blair’s tenure, 37 computers, 4 mobiles, 2 cameras, a mini-disc player, a video recorder, 4 printers, 2 projectors and a bicycle were stolen from 10 Downing Street

The Tabard Inn which once stood in Talbot Yard behind Guy’s Hospital was the 65-mile fictional starting point of Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales

Covent Garden’s Stukeley Street was formerly Coal Yard where Samuel Pepys saw pretty resident Nell Gwyn standing in a doorway

The German Gymnastic Society, now a restaurant, at King’s Cross established in London in 1861, was Britain’s first purpose-built gymnasium

A signalling box in Tottenham Court Road’s ticket hall sealed in 2013 to be opened in 2063, it contains an Oyster Card and a Baby on Board badge

The King’s cockle-strewer was employed to spread powdered cockleshells on Pall Mall so paille maille could be played in the 17th century

In November 1903 The Daily Mirror was launched from 2 Carmelite Street the paper started well until the owner Alfred Harmsworth allegedly said, “Women can’t read and don’t want to read”

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 October 1961, Britain’s top satirical magazine was launched from Willie Rushton’s mothers home in Scarsdale Villas. The publication of corny text, printed on yellow paper would develop into Private Eye, which today has a circulation of over ¼ million for its bi-weekly editions. Still published in London it has been edited since 1986 by Ian Hislop and today is better known for its investigative journalism into under-reported scandals.

On 25 October 1400 Geoffrey Chaucer author of Canterbury Tales died, he was the first writer interred in Poets’ Corner at Westminster Abbey

Cellars at The Mason’s Arms, Upper Berkeley Street were used as cells for those to be hanged at Tyburn to which there is a connecting tunnel

St Paul’s Cathedral is the fifth built on the site of a Roman temple dedicated to Diana, the first church was constructed around 604 AD

Charliatan, Dr. Bossey entertained vast crowds in Covent Garden, but decamped when heckled by who he believed to be a dissatisfied patient, in fact it was a parrot

King Charles I was the last monarch ever to enter the Chamber of The House of Commons. Today the monarch addresses Parliament in the House of Lords

William Hogarth’s Times of Day: Night shows 18th century magistrate Thomas de Veil being soaked by urine on Charing Cross Road

Pimms was invented in 1823 at 3 Poultry at the Pimm’s Oyster Rooms as an aid to digestion serving it in a small tankard known as a No. 1 Cup

London’s oldest swimming club is the Serpentine SC, founded in 1864, unusually it didn’t adopt first and second class swims

The Rocket inventor Robert Stevenson proposed the Thames Viaduct Railway a steel structure for trains to travel along the river’s centre

The majority of workers at Mortons Jam factory were of Scottish origin, this is where the famous blue & white colours of Millwall originated

The 1,800 people a year granted The Freedom of The City of London can if they should wish herd a gaggle of geese down Cheapside

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 October 1910 Dr. Hawley Harvey Crippen’s trial commenced, for the murder of his wife Cora. Lasting only 5 days, the jury took just hours to reach a verdict of guilty. He was executed at Pentonville Prison on 23 November. His notoriety stems from being the first suspect apprehended with the aid of wireless telegraphy as he made his escape to Canada. Cora’s body was found under the basement floor of 39 Hilldrop Crescent.

On 18 November 1660, a proclamation forbidding Hackney carriages to ply for hire was enacted. Pepys records in his diary picking up on the following day

In 1894 Martial Bourdin accidently blew himself up – his funeral sparked riots by 15,000 near the Autonomie Anarchist Club, 6 Windmill Street

The Tower of London once contained a royal residence, barracks, armoury, prison, mint, a menagerie and an observatory

It took Dr John Snow years to persuade the establishment that cholera is the water-borne disease that he proved it to be in Soho in 1854

During the Cold War the statue of St Francis of Asissi at Brompton Oratory was used as a ‘dead letter’ drop for Russian KGB agents

Fassett Square in Dalston was the model for Eastenders’ Albert Square but no pub and the garden is for residents only

Tooting Bec Lido holds 1 million gallons, taking a week to fill, at 300ft x 100ft a maximum of 1,400 swimmers can enter the water at a time

Edgar Kail scored over 400 goals for Dulwich Hamlet FC won 3 England caps and refused to turn professional, Hamlet fans still chant his name

The first deep-level tube trains had no windows, guards called out the station names to advise your location

In the early days of the London and Birmingham Railway conductors travelled outside the train, leaning in through the open windows to check tickets

It would take 7,408 Hula Hoops to reach the height of Big Ben, it’s a claim made by the manufacturers of – well Hula Hoops

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.