This Week In London’s History Monday – 28th April 1801: Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 7th Earl of Shaftesbury, is born at 24 Grosvenor Square. He would become a noted politician and philanthropist, whose works would be commemorated by the construction of the Shaftesbury Memorial (a.k.a. ‘The Angel of Christian Charity’, a.k.a. ‘Eros’) in Piccadilly Circus. Tuesday – 29th April 1745: Cowper Thornhill, keeper of the Bell Inn in Stilton, Cambridgeshire, rides from the inn to Shoreditch......

This Week In London’s History Monday – 14th April 1471: During the Wars of the Roses, the Yorkists defeat the Lancastrians in the Battle of Barnet, allowing Edward IV to resume the throne. Tuesday – 15th April 1755: Samuel Johnson’s A Dictionary of the English Language is published in London. Wednesday – 16th April 1889: Hollywood great Charlie Chaplin is born in Walworth, South London. Thursday – 17th April 1999: ‘London nailbomber’ David Copeland......

Had TfL existed in his time, the great Samuel Johnson may well have amended his famous aphorism to read "a man who is bored of London needs to hop on the number 19 bus". In its perambulation from Battersea to Finsbury Park, the 19 cuts a swath across the capital's economic and cultural barriers, revealing the world within one city that modern London manifests. Vogue has certainly been impressed by the number 19. The......

Londonist asks that most pressing of daily concerns: where to go on your lunch break. Jerusalem Tavern 55 Britton Street EC1M 5UQ Nearest Tube: Farringdon 0207 490 4281 11:00am - 11:00pm (Monday – Friday) Map Expect to Pay: around £7 for food, around £3 for most pints Rating: 9.5 out of 10 As one beerintheevening reviewer put it, “The only downside to this pub is that it is closed at weekends.” Londonist would like......

Hammer attack on Samuel Johnson. Man gets camera lodged in body. "I can topple royalty and make pancakes", claims defendant Terracotta army marches on London. Banksy and Warhol side by side. Image courtesy of markstravelphotos via the Londonist flickr group.......

In Next Week: Next Wednesday the winner of the Rossica Prize, awarded every other year for excellence in literary translation from Russian into English, is announced after readings from the short-listed translations. This year’s submissions include texts ranging from the 19th to the 21st century, from Tolstoy's War and Peace to Ismailov's The Railway - our Russian is a bit rusty but хорошее везение к каждому... 23 May at 7pm, £6, The London Review......

A tribute to the capital’s alleys, ginnels and snickleways. 10. Took’s Court Where? Piddling little dogleg to the East of Chancery Lane. Yes, we’re back near Samuel Johnson Land again. What? Surely London’s least grimy alley. Sandblasted and scrubbed to the point that you could eat your dinner off it whilst performing open heart surgery. The largely useless route was built just before the Great Fire by a chap called Thomas Took (and not......

This Day In London’s History 1709: Samuel Johnson born. When Channel 5 finally get round to making the Top 100 greatest Londoners of all time, the famous dictionary compiler will certainly be in the leading pack. His fame rests as much on the number of bon mots he left the world, as any lexicographical legacy: “Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel” ; the overworked ‘When a man is tired of London, he......