Monday Miscellanea

Dave Haste
By Dave Haste Last edited 157 months ago
Monday Miscellanea

This Week In London’s History

  • Monday14th February 1905: The Great Northern & City Railway is opened, connecting Moorgate, Highbury and Finsbury Park stations. It would later become the Northern City Line (once operated as a disconnected part of the Northern Line; but now part of the National Rail network).
  • Tuesday - 15th February 1929: Norman Graham Hill is born in Hampstead. Better known as Graham Hill, he would become a very successful racing driver (winning two Formula 1 World Championships) and father to racing driver Damon Hill.
  • Wednesday - 16th February 1659: The first known handwritten British cheque is written by a Nicholas van Acker, payable to a Mr Delboe and drawn on Messrs Morris and Clayton, scriveners and bankers of the City of London. Reports vary as to how much the cheque is made out for (some sources say £10, others claim £400).
  • Thursday - 17th February 1958: The inaugural meeting of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) takes place at Central Hall in Westminster. It is attended by some 5000 people.
  • Friday - 18th February 1996: An IRA bomb explodes on a double-decker bus on Aldwych, killing the bomber and injuring eight members of the public.

London Quote Of The Week

As to London we must console ourselves with the thought that if life outside is less poetic than it was in the days of old, inwardly its poetry is much deeper.

Goldwin Smith

Picture by Herschell Hershey via the Londonist Flickr Pool.

Last Updated 14 February 2011