This Week In London’s History
Random London Fact Of The Week
London’s first ever ‘blue plaque’ was unveiled in 1867, as a “commemorative tablet” in honour of Lord Byron.
Originally founded by the Royal Society of Arts, the blue plaque scheme was intended to commemorate a specific location’s link to a famous person (or, occasionally, event). Although Byron’s plaque took the form of the (now familiar) blue ceramic disc, many of the other early plaques were brown in colour (apparently to save money). However when the scheme was taken over by the London County Council in 1901, it was decided that blue was indeed a more aesthetically pleasing colour for future plaques.
Byron’s plaque was located at the place of his birth, 24 Holles Street, W1. The building has since been demolished.
London’s Weather This Week
Well, it looks like the threatened ‘worst storm ever’ hasn’t quite hit London yet. Storm Johanna has so far preferred to take her time, concentrating on odd places like Cornwall for a bit. However, the forecasters are still confident that Johanna will be visiting London within the next day or so, and that we’re pretty much guaranteed wind and rain all week long. There may be some bursts of sunshine in the middle of the week, but one thing’s for sure: if you’re leaving the house, you’re going to get wet.
Photo taken from rcolonna’s Flickr photostream.