From 1961 the Crystal Palace Bowl was used for open-air classical concerts. Contemporary music events began a decade later, with a diverse range of artists from Pink Floyd to Vera Lynn. Bob Marley gave his last London performance there. The current stage was completed in 1997.
The Hansa were the most important group of traders in Northern Europe throughout the Middle Ages, with their Thames-side base where Cannon Street station now stands. Read about them here https://t.co/at6bpkHRYg
Wildy & Sons at Lincoln's Inn is a family-owned seller and publisher of legal books. Established in the first decades of the 19thC, it is now perhaps the world's oldest family-owned bookseller. It is still run by the Sinkins family, who became partners over a century ago.
Last year I took a tour inside the historic Shoreditch Town Hall. There are tours available this coming Wednesday as part of Hackney History Festival Week. Click here for details https://t.co/afvN3VkE7G
Horselydown Stairs at Bermondsey are ancient watermen's stairs from where passengers could catch a boat across (or along) the river in the times when London Bridge was the only dry crossing. Horselydown took its name from when the area was used for grazing horses.
'Thief-taker General' Jonathan Wild was hanged today in 1725 at Tyburn before a huge crowd. Read here about crime and policing in the early 18th century https://t.co/VAYJACrRkb
Today in 1701 pirate Captain Kidd was hanged at Execution Dock at Wapping. Read here about Execution Dock and the development of Wapping and other riverside hamlets https://t.co/F7S1ierRxk
The Blackwall Tunnel under the Thames, linking East London with Greenwich, was opened today in 1897 by the Prince of Wales. Read about it here https://t.co/jH1NChOivQ
Today in 1619 King James I granted a charter to incorporate the New River Company. The New River was never a river and is no longer new but still brings fresh water into London. Read my article here https://t.co/YCM2dfaRAo or watch my video about it here https://t.co/2gPIZTA2wz
This is the former home of John Logie Baird at Sydenham Hill, where he and his family lived between 1933 and 1944. Baird was an electrical engineer who in the early 1920s created the world's first television system.
Today in 1649, several months after the execution of King Charles I, the country was today declared a republican “Commonwealth and Free State”. Read here about London during the Commonwealth period https://t.co/g2KoTYYUyj
Alexandra Palace and Park in North London was officially reopened today in 1901 under public ownership. Read here the history of Alexandra Palace https://t.co/W7GbGXQWk2
There are five pubs called Blue Posts within a small area of Central London, including this one in Berwick Street, Soho. The name is believed to be derived from the 18thC sedan chair (taxi) ranks. The early British film star Jessie Matthews took dancing lessons above the pub.
Samuel Johnson first met James Boswell in a Covent Garden bookshop today in 1763. It is through Boswell's biography that we know so much about Johnson. Read here about the life of Johnson https://t.co/SUGPzG3jcH
Handel gave the final annual performance of his Messiah at the Foundling Hospital today in 1754. Read here about Thomas Coram and the Foundling Hospital, London's first orphanage https://t.co/s4faYdOYaO