This Week In London’s History
- Monday – 28th May 1908: Ian Fleming, creator of the character of James Bond and author of more than a dozen novels featuring the British agent, is born in Mayfair. He also wrote Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
- Tuesday – 29th May 1886: The current Putney Bridge is opened by the Prince and Princess of Wales, replacing an earlier bridge that was built in 1729.
- Wednesday – 30th May 1972: The ‘Angry Brigade’, a group responsible for a large number of bomb attacks in the early 70s, go on trial at the Old Bailey.
- Thursday – 31st May 1859: Big Ben rings across Westminster for the first time, although it does not officially go into service until later that year.
- Friday – 1st June 1845: A homing pigeon arrives in London, having set off from Namibia some 55 days earlier. Supposedly.
Random London Quote Of The Week
Why, Sir, you find no man, at all intellectual, who is willing to leave London. No, Sir, when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford.
Samuel Johnson
Picture of the Whitechapel Bell Foundry (where Big Ben was cast) courtesy of curry15 via the Londonist Flickr Pool.
