Monday Miscellanea

Dave Haste
By Dave Haste Last edited 151 months ago
Monday Miscellanea

This Week In London’s History

  • Monday15th August 1950: Princess Elizabeth (as she was known at the time) gives birth to her second child, Anne Elizabeth Alice Louise (Princess Anne, who would become the Princess Royal) at Clarence House in central London.
  • Tuesday16th August 2001: Princess Diana’s former butler, Paul Burrell, is charged with theft from her estate at West End Central police station. Amidst some controversy, the subsequent trial would later collapse as the Queen recalls a conversation suggesting that Burrell was merely ‘storing’ Princess Diana’s belongings.
  • Wednesday17th August 1896: A woman named Bridget Driscoll becomes what is reported to be the first ever pedestrian to be killed by a motorcar, in Crystal Palace, south-east London. Witnesses later describe the car as travelling at “a reckless pace” when it hit Mrs Driscoll. It would later transpire that the car was travelling at 4 mph.
  • Thursday18th August 1937: William George Rushton is born in Chelsea. Better known as Willie Rushton, he would become a popular comedian and satirist, co-founding Private Eye magazine and featuring as a regular panellist on Radio 4’s I’m Sorry I Haven’t a Clue game show.
  • Friday19th August 1897: London’s first horseless taxi is introduced by the London Electric Cab Company of Lambeth. The taxi is battery-powered, and reaches a theoretical top speed of 9 mph.

Random London Quote Of The Week

I went to London because, for me, it was the home of literature. I went there because of Dickens and Shakespeare. No, let's say Shakespeare and Dickens, to get them in the right order.

Ben Okri

Photo by Dave

Last Updated 14 August 2011