This Week In London’s History
- Monday – 11 February 1826: The University of London is founded. It would later be known as University College London (or UCL).
- Tuesday – 12 February 1554: Lady Jane Grey and her husband Lord Guildford Dudley are executed at the Tower of London.
- Wednesday – 13 February 1247: A major earthquake causes considerable damage to London. Curiously, it is reported that the quake was preceded for three months by a complete absence of tidal activity at the coast.
- Thursday – 14 February 1905: The Great Northern & City Railway is opened, connecting Moorgate, Highbury and Finsbury Park stations. It would later become the Northern City Line (once operated as a disconnected part of the Northern Line; but now part of the National Rail network).
- Friday – 15 February 1929: Norman Graham Hill is born in Hampstead. Better known as Graham Hill, he would become a very successful racing driver (winning two Formula 1 World Championships) and father to racing driver Damon Hill.
Random London Quote Of The Week
Every city has a sex and an age which have nothing to do with demography. Rome is feminine. So is Odessa. London is a teenager, an urchin, and, in this, hasn't changed since the time of Dickens. Paris, I believe, is a man in his twenties in love with an older woman.
John Berger
Picture by Catafractatus via the Londonist Flickr Pool.
