Monday Miscellanea

Dave Haste
By Dave Haste Last edited 142 months ago
Monday Miscellanea

This Week In London’s History

  • Monday14th May 1842: The first fully illustrated weekly newspaper, the Illustrated London News is launched, costing sixpence. It was still being published weekly as recently as 1971, but its publication frequency has since declined.
  • Tuesday15th May 1981: Zara Phillips, the daughter of Princess Anne and Captain Mark Phillips, is born in a private wing of St Mary’s Hospital in Paddington. She would become a very successful equestrian, and is currently 14th in line to the throne.
  • Wednesday16th May 1968: A gas explosion causes the collapse of an entire corner of a newly constructed high-rise block of flats in Newham, East London, killing five residents. Unsurprisingly the flats are later deemed to be ‘structurally unsound’.
  • Thursday17th May 1984: Prince Charles denounces an early proposed design of an extension to the National Gallery building on Trafalgar Square as “a monstrous carbuncle on the face of a much-loved and elegant friend”.
  • Friday18th May 1593: A warrant is issued for the arrest of Christopher Marlowe following allegations of heresy. Less than two weeks later, he was murdered in Deptford, South East London.

Random London Quote Of The Week

London is a modern Babylon.

Benjamin Disraeli, Tancred

Picture by Tyla'75 via the Londonist Flickr Pool.

Last Updated 13 May 2012