Monday Miscellanea

This Week In London’s History

Monday – 5th November 1605: Following a tip-off, a party of armed men led by a Justice of the Peace discover Guy Fawkes guarding a large amount of gunpowder and incendiary materials in the vaults under the House of Lords.

Tuesday – 6th November 1869: Queen Victoria opens Blackfriars Bridge, and then Holborn Viaduct. Wednesday – 7th November 1783: John Austin, having been convicted for ‘cruel highway robbery’, becomes the last person to be hanged at the Tyburn gallows near Marble Arch. Thursday – 8th November 1674: John Milton, author of Paradise Lost, dies of gout in his house at Finsbury. Friday – 9th November 1911: The Victoria Palace Theatre is opened opposite Victoria Station.

Random London Fact Of The Week

It is thought that the Thames takes its name from ‘Tamesis’, the name given to the river by Julius Caesar during the Roman invasion that took place in 55 BC. This in turn may have been derived from the Celtic name ‘Tamesas’.

London’s Weather This Week

There will probably be a fair bit of Autumnal sunshine this week, if we’re lucky. The forecasters seem to think that the temperatures will be a bit unpredictable, though.