This Week In London’s History
- Monday – 9th July 1968: The Hayward art gallery on the South Bank is opened by the Queen.
- Tuesday – 10th July 1958: Britain’s first parking meters are installed in Mayfair. Soon there would be 625 of them in the district, charging 6 pence per hour.
- Wednesday – 11th July 1848: Waterloo Station is opened. The original station would survive just 52 years until 1900, when it would be demolished and rebuilt to form the Waterloo mainline station that we know today.
- Thursday – 12th July 1543: Henry VIII marries Catherine Parr in the last of his six marriages.
- Friday – 13th July 1985: Wembley Stadium hosts the colossal Live Aid concert (along with the JFK Stadium in Philadelphia and several other less high-profile venues). An estimated 1.5 billion people from more than 100 countries watch the concert’s live television broadcast.
Random London Quote Of The Week
London, you know, has a great Belly, but no palate, nor taste of right or wrong.
Thomas Hobbes, Behemoth
Picture by Adam BRI Smith via the Londonist Flickr Pool.