This Week In London’s History
- Monday – 20th August 1989: The Marchioness pleasure boat collides with the dredger Bowbelle under Cannon Street Railway Bridge, causing the Marchioness to sink rapidly. 51 of the pleasure boat’s 132 passengers drown.
- Tuesday – 21st August 1920: A boy who would be named Christopher Robin Milne is born in Chelsea, West London. His father, the author A. A. Milne, would use him as inspiration for the Christopher Robin character in the Winnie-the-Pooh stories.
- Wednesday – 22nd August 1964: Iconic football programme Match of the Day is screened for the first time, covering a 3-2 defeat of Arsenal by Liverpool. It is aired at 6:30pm on BBC Two, and thus generally only available to London viewers – as the channel would not become available outside the capital until some time later.
- Thursday – 23rd August 1940: What is described as the “first all-night bombing raid on London” during the Second World War takes place, paving the way for tit-for-tat retaliation and The Blitz.
- Friday – 24th August 1931: At Westminster, Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald submits the formal resignation of the Labour government, which would be replaced by the National Government.
London Quote Of The Week
He sipped at a weak hock and seltzer
As he gazed at the London skies
Through the Nottingham lace of the curtains
Or was it his bees-winged eyes?
John Betjeman, The Arrest of Oscar Wilde at the Cadogan Hotel
Picture by roll the dice via the Londonist Flickr Pool.
