This Week In London’s History
- Monday – 6th August 1937: Barbara Windsor is born in Shoreditch in central London. She would achieve fame as an actress, notably as a ‘saucy strumpet’ in the Carry On films of the 60s and 70s and later as a major character in Eastenders.
- Tuesday – 7th August 2001: The Department of Health pays £27 million for a private Harley Street heart hospital, re-nationalising it and bringing it into the NHS. It becomes the first private hospital to be nationalised since the foundation of the NHS.
- Wednesday – 8th August 1988: The Duchess of York gives birth to her (and Prince Andrew’s) first child in the Portland Hospital in central London. The girl would later be named Beatrice Elizabeth Mary, confounding those who foolishly placed bets what the new princess’s name would be.
- Thursday – 9th August 1902: More than 18 months after the death of Queen Victoria, the heir to the throne, Edward VII, is crowned King at Westminster Abbey.
- Friday – 10th August 2003: At the height of a massive Europe-wide heat wave, London records its highest ever temperature – 38.1 °C (100.6 °F), measured at Kew Gardens.
London Quote Of The Week
The fascination of the London street is that no two people are ever alike; each seems bound on some private affair of his own.
Virginia Woolf, A Room of One’s Own
Picture by szen_volta via the Londonist Flickr Pool.
