Oxford Street’s biggest department store was opened by the American businessman Gordon J Selfridge in 1909, whose motto was ‘The customer is always right’.
The British Museum has more than 7 million objects from every continent, some of which have been controversial. Подробнее.
The acoustics here were once so bad, it was said this was the only venue where a composer could be sure of hearing his work twice. It was corrected in 1969 by putting diffusing discs on the ceiling.
Soho is home to Europe’s largest Chinatown, which developed in the 1970s. Earlier generations of London’s Chinese population had centred around the docks of Limehouse.
One of the gallery’s most famous pictures is the Chandos portrait, which is said to be of William Shakespeare by his friend Richard Burbage. But some dispute its provenance.
Built in 1703 for the Duke of Buckingham, George III acquired it in 1762 as a private house. It became an official royal residence in the reign of Queen Victoria, when it was greatly enlarged.
Even if you are not visiting one of the many exhibitions and events organised here throughout the year, come to sit in its beautiful and quiet neoclassical courtyard away from London’s busy streets.
The first national lottery was held in 1569, and the result was announced at the west door of (the old) St.Paul’s cathedral. It is unknown if the winner let it change him.
The Bankside Power Station was built as a ‘cathedral of power’ in 1963, but closed in 1981. It reopened as one of Europe’s finest modern art galleries in 2000. The Turbine Hall is 35m high.
Built to commemorate the Great Fire of 1666, the height of the Monument is the same as its distance from the bakery on Pudding Lane where the fire started.
Do visit this bustling food market where top London chefs come to buy their ingredients. If you don’t find it here, where will you? Open from Thursday to Saturday, but come early to avoid the crowds! Подробнее.
This WW2 cruiser, now a tourist attraction, took part in the sinking of the German battleship Scharnhorst and in the D-Day landings. Her guns are aimed at an M1 service station 12.5 miles away.
To mark the 50th birthday of the Royal Air Force in 1968, Flight Lt. Allan Pollock flew his Hawker jet under the walkway of Tower Bridge. This unauthorised stunt won him a court martial.
In 1894 a French anarchist named Martial Bourdin was carrying a bomb through the park to the Observatory when it exploded and killed him. No one knows why he had decided to target the Observatory.
