Monday Miscellanea

This Week In London’s History

Monday – 23rd June 1912: Alan Turing is born in Maida Vale, West London. He would become a leading World War II cryptographer, whose techniques would be instrumental in breaking a number of German ciphers at Bletchley Park. He is considered by some to be the father of modern computer science.

Tuesday – 24th June 1509: A lavish double coronation takes place in Westminster Abbey, as Henry VIII and his new wife, Catherine of Aragon, are crowned. Wednesday – 25th June 1953: John Christie is sentenced to death for the murder of his wife, whose body was found with several others hidden beneath the floorboards of his house in Notting Hill, West London. His conviction casts serious doubts on a previous murder trial that resulted in the conviction and execution of his fellow tenant Timothy Evans, who would be posthumously pardoned in 1966. The resulting controversy would contribute to the abolition of the death penalty in the UK. Thursday – 26th June 1857: The first Victoria Cross medals are awarded by Queen Victoria to 62 soldiers of the Crimean War, in a ceremony in Hyde Park. Friday – 27th June 1967: The world’s first electronic automated teller machine (ATM) is installed by Barclays Bank in Enfield, North London. Reg Varney (of On The Buses fame) becomes the first person to make a withdrawal.

Random London Fact Of The Week

As well as housing more than one thousand rooms and several miles of corridors, the Royal Courts of Justice building in Holborn contains a ‘secret’ corridor known as the Chicken Run.

London’s Weather This Week

Plenty of sunshine, by all accounts, although there’s a chance that the rain might return by the end of the week.

Picture of the Royal Courts of Justice courtesy of M@.