This Week In London’s History
- Monday – 19th March 2005: As many as 200,000 protesters march through central London on the second anniversary of the start of the Iraq war.
- Tuesday – 20th March 1974: A gunman attempts to kidnap Princess Anne by ambushing her chauffer-driven car as she returns to Buckingham Palace from a charity event on Pall Mall. Despite shooting several people, the man fails in his kidnap attempt and is arrested.
- Wednesday – 21st March 1962: Driverless tube trains are demonstrated in South Ealing.
- Thursday – 22nd March 1954: The London Bullion Market reopens after 15 years of closure.
- Friday – 23rd March 1861: London’s first tramway is opened, running about a mile along Bayswater Road between Marble Arch and Notting Hill. The horse-drawn trams, introduced by the appropriately-named George Francis Train, would be superseded by electric trams some forty years later.
Random London Quote Of The Week
RESPIRATOR, n. An apparatus fitted over the nose and mouth of an inhabitant of London, whereby to filter the visible universe in its passage to the lungs.
Ambrose Bierce, The Devil’s Dictionary
Picture by roll the dice via the Londonist Flickr Pool.