Think you know London? Think again

1 Jun 2017
Published in London
Views 4485

Prepare to be amazed with these facts about London. It could be life changing.

London was originally founded by the Romans in 50 AD, back then it was called Londinium. Things have changed somewhat since then, but one thing that is still the same is that it's the best place to live in the world.

So let's celebrate our capital with these crazy facts.

 

  1. The first London Bridge constructed over the River Thames was built in 43 AD by the Romans.
  2. London remained the largest city in the world until 1957, Japan is now the largest.
  3. In 1811 London was the first city to reach a population of over one million.
  4. In the 1700's 20% of all women in London were prostitutes.
  5. The last prisoner to be held in the Tower of London was Ruldolph Walter Richard Heß.
  6. In 1945, London went time travelling when a flock of birds landed on the minute hand of Big Ben and put the time back by five minutes.
  7. On that note, the big clock in Westminster is not actually called Big Ben, that's the name of the Tower.
  8. It is illegal to die in the Houses of Parliament.
  9. Next time you're travelling through Aldgate tube station just think about the fact that over a 1,000 bodies are buried in a plague pit underneath your feet, from the black death that struck London in 1665.
  10. Some London streets are named from the activities that went on in that area such as Bakers worked in Bread Street, Milk street is named because cows were milked there.
  11. Cock Lane, gets it's name not from poultry but because of prostitution.
  12. Each year Norway send over a masshoosive Christmas tree which is placed in Trafalgar Square as a thank-you for British support during WW2. (Awww, thanks Norway <3)
  13. The London Underground is the longest metro in the world with 400km of track serving 270 stations.
  14. The Carlisle Arms in Soho was where someone actually managed to die through near-inhalation of a billiard ball. One thinks one may have had too much gin.
  15. Most London place names have Anglo Saxons names except, Penge and Brent which are celtic in origin. Mottingham in south London is named after Modha a viking settler.
  16. Soho, used to be open fields as late as the 1700's, it gets it's name from a medieval hunting cry.
  17. Josef Jakobs was the last person to be executed at the Tower of London, he was shot by firing squad.
  18. In 1750 London was struck by an earthquake.
  19. Only six people died in the Great Fire of London, more people died trying to escape.
  20. One of London's lost rivers, the Tyburn runs directly under Buckingham Palace.
  21. The  following are real street names found in London; Cock Lane, Ha Ha Road, Hooker's Road, and Cyclops Mews.
  22. Unfortunately these street names no longer exist, a moment of silence please. Shiteburn Lane, Pissing Alley and Gropec*nt Lane. 
  23. Before 1907 London's iconic red buses weren't red.
  24. Harrods sold cocaine until 1916.
  25. Underneath the Ministry of Defence's Main Building in Henry V111's wine cellar.

 

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