Monday Miscellanea

This Week In London’s History

Monday – 7th July 2005: Four suicide bombers detonate bombs on London’s public transport system, resulting in the death of 52 commuters and injury to some 700 others.

Tuesday – 8th July 1965: Ronnie Biggs, a member of the gang that carried out the notorious ‘Great Train Robbery’ a couple of years earlier, escapes from Wandsworth Prison. He would remain un-incarcerated until 2001. Wednesday – 9th July 1981: An intruder, 31-year-old Michael Fagan, breaks into Buckingham Palace early in the morning, entering the Queen’s bedroom and chatting to her for ten minutes. The incident would raise serious questions about the palace’s security. Thursday – 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. Friday – 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.

Random London Fact Of The Week

The 2012 Summer Olympics will actually be the third time that our capital has hosted the Games. It also played host in 1908 (relocated from Rome due to the eruption of Mount Vesuvius a couple of years earlier, and held in the White City Stadium, which was constructed in a mere 10 months) and 1948 (effectively postponed from 1944 because of disruption caused by the Second World War).

London’s Weather This Week

The outlook for the entire week is sporadic sunshine and rain, if the forecasters are to be believed.

Photo by M@.