London Did You Know?

Did you know? - The London Cab Trade is the oldest land passenger services in Britain. First regulated in 1654, one hundred and seventy five years before the first horse drawn bus.

Did you know? - The first telephone call was made by Alexander Bell in 1876 from the Browns Hotel, Albemarle Street, W1.

Did you know? - The first gastro pub in London is the Guinea Grill, 30 Bruton Place W1, which opened in 1952.  Although a tavern it is believed to have existed on the site since the 15th century.

Did you know? - Queen Elizabeth II was born in Mayfair. A plaque at 17 Bruton Street commemorates the event on 21st April 1926.

Did you know? - The first plaques in London were put up by the Royal Society of Arts in 1867. However the oldest surviving two, date from 1875 John Dryden, 43 Gerrard Street W1 and Napoleon III at 1 King Street SW1.

Did you know? - The Hospital for Sick Children, great Ormond Street, WC1 is the first Hospital in England exclusively for children, despite, at its opening in 1851 42% of deaths being children under 10.

Did you know? - When Newgate Prison was demolished in1902 all the prisoners who had been executed and buried within its portals were exhumed and reburied in a mass grave in the City of London Cemetery, Aldersbrook Road, E12.

Did you know? - In London there are two High Streets that don’t have a single shop in them. These are Stepney High Street, E1 and Lambeth High Street, SE1.

Did you know? - Twinings Tea Merchants, 216 Strand, WC2 is London’s oldest retail shop. Its small size gives you some idea of the value of tea when it was opened in 1706.

Did you know? - Royal perfumers J. Floris Ltd at 89 Jermyn Street, SW1 is London’s oldest perfume shop. It was established in 1730 and the same family has been trading at these premises for seven generations.

Did you know? - Boodle Hatfield are the oldest established Solicitors in London having been founded in 1720. Their longevity could be attributerd to them being the Solicitors for the Grosvenor Estates from an early date.

Did you know? - Holborn Viaduct, EC1 was built to overcome the steep roads up and down from Farringdon Street in 1869, thus becoming the world’s first flyover.

Did you know? - London’s oldest continuously working cinema is the Phoenix - 52 High Street, East Finchley, N2. It opened in 1910 and restyled to it’s art deco glory in 1928, it has now received Lottery Fund money for refurbishment.

Did you know? - The equestrian statue of Charles I on King Charles Island, Trafalgar Square, WC2 has the King facing his place of execution outside Banqueting House, Whitehall, SW1.

Did you know? - Only two Monarchs have reigned for less than a year - Edward VIII (1936) and previously Edward V (1483) who disappeared with his brother after entering the Tower of London.

Did you know? - London’s oldest Golf Club is the Royal Blackheath Club, Court Road, SE9, formed by a group of Scottish courtiers visiting Greenwich Palace in 1608, in whose grounds they originally played.

Did you know? - That all City Livery Companies have to have their halls within the City of London boundary, except the Gunmakers Company at 48 Commercial Road E1,  who because of their use of gunpowder it was felt more prudent to have them outside.

Did you know? - The oldest regiment in England is the Honourable Artillery Company, Armoury House, City Road, EC1. Incorporated in 1537, ceremonial duties include their veterans participating in the Lord Mayors Show as pikemen and musketeers.

Did you know? - All of Christopher Wren’s churches in London were replacement constructions except for one, St James’s Piccadilly W1, which was built in 1676 on a new site.

Did you know? - The first television transmission took place on 26th August l936 from Alexandra Palace, Alexandra Palace Way, N22 by the BBC.

Did you know? - In February 1957 at the Dominion Theatre, 269 Tottenham Court Road, W1 Bill Haley and the Comets performed the first live American Rock & Roll gig in Great Britain.

Did you know? - It wasn’t until the Act of 1765 that street names were made compulsory, resulting in the traditional colourful shop signs having to give way to street numbers.

Did you know? - At the junction of Strand, WC2 and Fleet Street, EC4 is the Temple Bar Memorial. This denotes the entrance to the City of London. The Queen has to symbolically stop here on state occasions and ask permission from the Lord Mayor of London to pass through.

Did you know? - London’s famous Public House known as Dirty Dicks, 202 Bishopsgate, EC2 gets its name from Richard Bentley, a dandy whose house was on the site. On the eve of his wedding his prospective bride died and he was so distraught that he locked himself in the house and lived in squalor.

Did you know? - Mon Plaisir Restaurant 19 Monmouth Street WC2 claims to be London’s oldest French restaurant, having been established in the 1940’s.

Did you know? - The Vintners Hall (1671), Upper Thames Street, EC4, has the oldest Livery Court Room in London and has been in constant use since its reconstruction after the Great Fire of 1666.

Did you know? - Eros, Piccadilly Circus is actually the Angel of Christian Charity,  is a memorial to the seventh Earl of Shatesbury and is the first statue to be made of aluminium.

Did you know? - The first bomb of World War II fell in the City of London on Wood Street by the junction of Fore Street EC2.

Did you know? - St George Church, St George Street W1, is the first church in London to be built with a portico entrance (1721).

Did you know? - The Millennium Bridge opened on 10th June 2001;  was only open two days when heavy pedestrian traffic caused it to start swaying.

Did you know? - Petticoat Lane, famous as a London Street Market,  doesn’t actually exist. Its real name is Middlesex Street, but the locals much prefer using the old name that pre-dated 1830.

Did you know? - Prince Albert’s Statue, Holborn Circus, EC1 is considered to be London’s politest, as he sits astride his horse doffing his hat to passers by.

Did you know? - The district of Acton is blessed with seven stations incorporating its name in the title - Acton Central,  Acton Main Line,  Acton Town,  East Acton,  North Acton,  South Acton and West Acton.

Did you know? - The first public event for gay men took place in December 1970 in Kensington Old Town Hall, Kensington High Street W8.

Did you know? - The first horseless cabs to be introduced to London in August 1897 were Bersey electric cabs. They were nicknamed the “Humming Birds” because of the noise from their electric motors.

Did you know? - The Inns of Court are barrister and student chambers. The earliest records are of Lincoln’s Inn, WC2 and date from 1422.

Did you know? - There is no memorial to the Royal Navy in London.

Did you know? - Swans are royal birds and all those on the Thames are owned by the Queen, with the exception of some owned by the Vintners Company and the Dyers Company who mark their cygnets with one or two nicks on the beak  in an annual ceremony in July known as Swan Upping.

Did you know? - The Ceremony of the Keys in which the Tower of London is locked each evening at 10 O’Clock is the oldest continuous ceremony in the world, having been carried out every evening for over 700 years.

Did you know? - Charles Dickens has nine plaques in London commemorating his life - the greatest number for any individual.

Did you know? - In total there will be a million seats available for London’s Olympic Games in 2012.

Did you know? - St Bartholomews Hospital, West Smithfield, EC1 was founded in 1123 and is the oldest Hospital in England still on its original site.

Did you know? - Norman Hantnell was the first London courtier to show his dress collection in Paris. He started his business at 26 Bruton Street W1.

Did you know? - The oldest apartments in London are to be found at the Albany, Piccadilly W1 (1770). Although women are now allowed to take up residency they were originally batchelor apartments.

Did you know? - The Ritz Hotel,  Arlington Street SW1, was the first major building in London to be built on a steel frame.

Did you know? - The oldests gentleman’s club in London is Whites Club, 37 St James’s Street SW1, which originally opened in 1693 as a chocolate house and evolved into a club.

Did you know? - Arsenal Station, Gillespie Road, N6 is London’s only Station named after a Football Club. Originally opened as Gillespie Road Station in 1906 it was renamed Arsenal Station in 1932.

Did you know? - The Naval & Military Club is more commonly known as the In and Out, despite now being in a town house at 4 St James’s Square W1. The nickname refers to its previous site on Piccadilly where In and Out was marked on the gate posts of the forecourt.