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Listings
BLOOD: Today’s opportunities to donate blood are at Conway Hall in Holborn, outside County Hall in Waterloo and at the Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead. See site for terms and conditions
BUSY BEES: The Horniman Museum in Forest Hill has a weekly event for young children, with activities such as storytelling, games and arts and crafts. Free, get tickets on the day, 10am/11.15am/noon
PENGUINS 3D: The Science Museum's screenings of Penguins 3D take place on weekdays all week, telling the story of a King Penguin returning to Penguin City. Perfect for kids. £10/£8, prebook, 11am
ELEPHANT & CASTLE: Learn about the history of this infamous roundabout from Stephen Humphrey, who has written a book about the area. The lecture will cover the Elephant in its heyday, including local pubs, churches and other buildings. £8, prebook, 2pm
INTERNATIONAL LONDON: Take a walk around The City and learn about the history of international influence on London, dating back to the 13th century. Starts at St Paul's. £10, prebook, 3.3opm
FREE ART TALK: SOAS near Russell Square hosts Nigerian artist Edosa Ogiugo, who'll talk about his work and practice in Nigeria. Free, just turn up, 5pm
GEORGIAN HISTORY: Hampton Court Palace continues its adult education season with a talk about Flattery and scandals in the early Georgian court by curator Tracy Borman. £12, prebook, 6.30pm
HOUSING CRISIS: Bookmarks in Fitzrovia hosts a talk about the housing crisis, by Danny Dorling, the author of All That Is Solid: The Great Housing Disaster. £2, prebook, 6.30pm
RETRO FILM: Vintage Screenings shows the classic film Funny Face starring Audrey Hepburn and Fred Astaire. The evening is hosted by actress Gemma Chan and takes place at The May Fair Hotel near Green Park. £40, prebook, 6.30pm
DRINKS GALORE: Head to the Hoxton Hotel for an evening all about gin -0 the history of the spirit, a gin and tonic masterclass, and of course, gin tastings, led by a gin expert. £40, prebook, 7pm
ANTI POLITICS: As part of Lift Festival, The Tin Tabernacle in Kilburn hosts an evening with a range of people who want to change politics itself using new political parties, self-appointed parliaments and anti-politics. £9.99, prebook, 7.15pm
CHARITY COMEDY: Spiritual Bar in Camden hosts the Oxjam Comedy Night in advance of the main music festival in October. £6, prebook, 7.30pm
Find more London events in our Free & Cheap events listings.
In response to reader feedback, we’ve started publishing Things to do in London and sending it out as an email at 7pm in the evening to give you more advance notice of what’s on the following day. We’ll still Tweet and Facebook it in the morning and you’ll still find it at the top of the site on the day in question.
Want to see your event in these last-minute listings? Email us at [email protected] at least 48 hours before the event, and we will consider it for inclusion. Note, due to high volumes of email, we can’t always reply.
London Goodie of the Day
Popped into the National Gallery recently? Alongside the fine art and world-class collections, there’s also a range of rather lovely London goodies on offer in the shop, and we’ll be featuring a different product each day this week.
Recreate the magnificence of Big Ben in your own home, with the National Gallery’s impressive Big Ben Wall Clock. Fear not, it is significantly quieter than its big brother, but the vinyl artwork and decorative metal hands make it a good-looking alternative to the real deal.
This week’s Things To Do in London is sponsored by the National Gallery.
Good Cause of the Day
Scope, a charity aiming to ensure that disabled people have the same opportunities as everyone else, has a sculpture exhibition at gallery@oxo on Southbank, starting today. British sculptors include Ingrid Sterling, Jill Berelowitz, Geoffrey Dashwood, Wendy Fisher and Simone Krok. The work will be sold in aid of the charity. Entrance is free, just turn up, and the exhibition is on until 8 June.
London Connection Puzzle
The theme this week is political. Your first clue was CAMDEN. Your second is LAMBETH. What's the specific London connection between these boroughs? A third clue, which should narrow things down a bit, will be supplied tomorrow.
From the Archive
Ever wondered what London will look like in 100 years? We uncovered the prophecies of a journalist from 1900, speculating on what London might look like in the year 2000. In some things he was pretty much on the money, while other predictions ("vast number of aerial cars overhead") haven't yet come to pass. Let's not be giving Boris any ideas.
