Monday Miscellanea

Dave Haste
By Dave Haste Last edited 166 months ago
Monday Miscellanea

052410MondayMisc.jpg

Last week's numbers magically transformed into a picture...

6 hour closure between 1am and 7am at Gatwick, Heathrow and London City due to that pesky volcano again

260 or so elephants turn up in London and only a handful of them seem to be London-themed

96 London locations that are on Twitter, lovingly mapped by Londonist

130 pounds weight in the old school diving suit worn by Lloyd Scott for the world's slowest marathon ever. On display at our Museum of the Month, the Maritime Galleries

22 staff and contractors were affected by the chemical incident at the Science Museum, which led to its evacuation and closure for the day

6 + 260 X 96 + 130 - 22 = 25,644 which is a beautifully composed view of the Millennium Bridge as taken by mad photos for the Londonist Flickr pool. Cool.

This Week In London’s History

  • Monday - 24th May 1862: The current Westminster Bridge is opened, replacing an earlier stone bridge that was subsiding badly.
  • Tuesday - 25th May 1878: The first ever performance of Gilbert and Sullivan’s ‘H.M.S. Pinafore’ takes place at the Opera Comique on The Strand. Wednesday - 26th May 1868: Michael Barrett, having been found guilty of involvement with a bombing in Clerkenwell, is hanged outside the walls of Newgate Prison. He would become the last man to be publicly hanged in Britain. Thursday - 27th May 2005: The Great Clock of Westminster (a.k.a. Big Ben) unexpectedly stops at 10:07pm. It restarts, but then stops again at 10:20pm for about 90 minutes. The malfunction is blamed on unseasonably high temperatures. Friday - 28th May 1908: Ian Fleming, creator of the character of James Bond and author of more than a dozen novels featuring the British agent (as well as ‘Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’), is born in Mayfair.

    Random London Quote Of The Week

    A mighty mass of brick, and smoke, and shipping,

    Dirty and dusty, but as wide as eye

    Could reach, with here and there a sail just skipping

    In sight, then lost amidst the forestry

    Of masts; a wilderness of steeples peeping

    On tiptoe through their sea-coal canopy;

    A huge, dun cupola, like a foolscap crown

    On a fool's head - and there is London Town.

    Lord Byron, Don Juan

    Last Updated 24 May 2010