Monday Miscellanea

Dave Haste
By Dave Haste Last edited 185 months ago
Monday Miscellanea
Medirian laser

This Week In London’s History

  • Monday13th October 1884: At the International Meridian Conference (taking place in Washington, D.C.), Greenwich is established as the location for the 'Prime Meridian' – the starting point for calculating longitude and the world’s time zones.
  • Tuesday14th October 1852: King’s Cross Station is opened. Wednesday15th October 1881: The Royal Comedy Theatre (now simply known as the Comedy Theatre) opens in the West End. Thursday16th October 1987: In the early hours of the morning, a huge storm of hurricane intensity wreaks havoc across London (and much of the rest of southern England). Friday17th October 1814: At the Horse Shoe Brewery on Tottenham Court Road, a colossal vat containing 323,000 gallons of beer bursts. The ensuing tsunami of booze causes several nearby buildings to collapse, and results in 9 fatalities – including a dubious report of alcohol poisoning as one man supposedly attempts to stem the tide of beer by drinking it. The brewery would be taken to court over the accident, but the event (later known as the 'London Beer Flood') would be ruled to be an ‘act of God’.

    Random London Quote Of The Week

    You are now

    In London, that great sea, whose ebb and flow

    At once is deaf and loud, and on the shore

    Vomits its wrecks, and still howls on for more.

    Yet in its depth what treasures!

    Percy Bysshe Shelley, Letter to Maria Gisborne

    London’s Weather This Week

    Forecasters are promising continued good weather, punctuated by a day or two of wind and rain in the middle of the week.

    Picture of the Greenwich Meridian Laser shining over the Isle of Dogs taken from aSIMULAtor’s Flickr Photostream under the Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works licence.

    Last Updated 13 October 2008