Things To Do In London Today: 16 October 2012


BURN DOWN PARLIAMENT: Historian Caroline Shenton will today live tweet the events of 16 October 1834, when the previous Houses of Parliament burned to the ground. Look out for tweets on @ParliamentBurns. From 6.30am

SUPERHUMAN: Today is your last chance to see the excellent Superhuman exhibition at Wellcome Collection, an exploration of how the human body has been and will be augmented by prosthetics and implants. Free, just turn up, 10am-6pm

GIVE BLOOD: Today's opportunity to have yourself partially exsanguinated for a good cause comes at a blood station in Old Kent Road's Asda. 10am-12.30pm and 2am-4.30pm

BOLDLY GO: Space expert Kevin Fong gives a UCL lunchtime talk about the future of space travel. If you can't get along, watch a live streaming of the event on the web. Free, just turn up, 1.15pm

ADA LOVELACE DAY: As arguably the world's first computer programmer at a time when technological endeavours were almost exclusively male, Ada Lovelace has become a role model of science and technology. For Ada Lovelace Day, you're encouraged to write a short posting about a woman in science, technology, engineering or maths whose achievements you admire, and post it to the Ada Lovelace Day site. If tickets are still available, an all-female comedy fest to mark the day is also recommended. £10, 6.30pm

GIG: There are still a handful of tickets left to see Ed Sheeran at Hammersmith Apollo tonight. £40-£90, 7pm

TALES FROM THE STAGE: A troupe of drama types take to the stage at the Wilmington Arms' Bright Club to share anecdotes and insights from the world of performance. £5, just turn up or prebook, 7.30pm

DATING: One or two places are still available for tonight's speed dating night at the Carbon Bar near Marble Arch. £16, 7.30pm

GEOPOLITICS: Catch Martin Jacques in conversation with David Milliband about the rise of modern China and its near-term future, at the Southbank Centre. £13.75, 7.45pm

Random Fact of the Day

Although normally associated with Tudor beheadings, the last execution at the Tower of London was within the span of living memory. German spy Josef Jakobs was executed on the Tower's rifle range by an eight-man military firing squad on 15 August 1941. The Tower has also held numerous 20th Century prisoners. The most famous were the Kray twins, who were detained in a cell in 1952 after assaulting a corporal and absconding from their military unit. The Sun has their mugshots.

Weather

Make the most of today — it looks like being the last dry day for a while, with long uninterrupted spells of sunshine. Last chance of the year to work on that tan? BBC Weather has a more competent report.

Secretly Hidden False Rumour of the Day
Imperial College engineers are working with the Tower of London to develop a group of robotic ravens. The robo-corvids will be kept in storage as an insurance policy, should their meat-based counterparts ever escape or die. Legend says that when the ravens fall, the Tower and England will fall.