history

The Londonist weekly Culture Crawl is crawling with things to see, do and enjoy: this week, we have dogs, more fireworks (but not dogs AND fireworks combined because that would be unpleasant) and the first mention of Christmas shopping. Let’s start with some wagging tails… …

A tribute to the capital’s alleys, ginnels and snickleways 15. Bull Inn Court Where? Long, sloping alley dropping from Maiden Lane down to Strand. What? Named after, unsurprisingly, the Bull Inn tavern, which once stood at the foot of the hill. A narrow cutting between …

Faithful to its abundant exclamation points, new play iAy Carmela! opens tonight, at the Shaw Theatre in Kings Cross, with a gala event. As we like to grab all opportunities by the balls, we catch director Tom Wright (above right, being grabbed by the balls) …

This Day In London’s History 1975: The Sex Pistols play their first gig at Saint Martin’s College. After Johnny Rotten joined The Swankers as their new vocalist, the band changed its name to The Sex Pistols under the guidance of its new manager Malcolm McLaren. …

This Day in London’s History 1485: Henry VII opens batting for the Tudor dynasty, taking the crown at Westminster Abbey. Attending the new king that day were the Yeomen of the Guard – the monarch’s bodyguard – on their first official duty. The Yeomen of …

Londonist went to see Caroline, or Change at the National Theatre — Happy 30th N.T.! — on Monday night and was slightly less entranced than the rest of the London critics. If it’s a rave you seek, you can find plenty over at What’s On …

Event of the Week Battle of Ideas at the Royal College of Art, all weekend The Battle of Ideas is, according to their website, ‘an annual festival of social, political, scientific, academic and cultural discussion‘. In other, more juvenile words, it’s a mass debate. And …

The Londonist Literary List appears every Tuesday. If you’d like to bring an event to our attention, please email londonistlit@gmail.com. Those of us with an addiction to lists may have looked on folornly at this recent compilation of no less than 1001 Books You Must …

Let’s take a look back at a week that raised this Zen koan: if Kevin Federline got into a wrestling ring with a wrestler, who would you root for? Austinist was in an entertainment state of mind as they covered the dickens out of the …

While the London Film Festival was having its gala opening in Leicester Square, a decidedly less glitzy and less James McAvoy-related film gathering was taking place down at BAFTA headquarters over on Piccadilly. Just Watch Me: Award Winning Canadian Short Films brought together some classic …