London summary

Learn about some famous historical events of London

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Below is the article summary. For the full article, see London.

London, officially Greater London, Capital and largest city (pop., 2006 est.: 7,517,700) of the United Kingdom, situated in southeastern England on the River Thames. It is the political, industrial, cultural, and financial centre of the country. Formally known as the metropolitan county of Greater London (established 1965), it has an area of 659 sq mi (1,706 sq km) and consists of two regions: Inner London comprises 14 of London’s 33 boroughs (including the original City of London), and Outer London encompasses the other 19 boroughs. Greater London is an administrative entity, with an elected mayor and assembly. Founded by the Romans as Londinium in the 1st century ce, it passed to the Saxons in the 5th–6th century. The Danes invaded England and London in 865. Following the Norman Conquest (1066), William I (the Conqueror) established the central stronghold of the fortress known as the Tower of London. Norman kings selected Westminster as their seat of government. The church known as Westminster Abbey had been built earlier by Edward the Confessor. The largest city in Europe north of the Alps by 1085, it was struck by the Black Death in 1348–49. Trade grew significantly in the mid-16th century, fueled by the establishment of Britain’s overseas empire. In 1664–65 the plague killed about 70,000 Londoners, and in 1666 the Great Fire of London consumed five-sixths of the City of London; it was afterward rebuilt (see Christopher Wren). London was the centre of world trade from the late 18th century to 1914. It opened the world’s first electric underground railway in 1890. Severely damaged by German bombs in the Battle of Britain during World War II, it was again rebuilt and grew rapidly in the postwar period. Among its sites of interest are Buckingham Palace, the Tate galleries, the National Gallery, the British Museum, and the Victoria and Albert Museum.

Big Ben Summary

Big Ben, tower clock, famous for its accuracy and for its massive bell. Strictly speaking, the name refers to only the great hour bell, which weighs 15.1 tons (13.7 metric tons), but it is commonly associated with the whole clock tower at the northern end of the Houses of Parliament, in the London

The Strand and the south facade of the Royal Courts of Justice, London. The griffin-topped Temple Bar, which marks the boundary between Westminster and the City of London, was erected in the 1670s to replace the 14th-century Temple Bar gatehouse.

Inns of Court Summary

Inns of Court, in London, group of four institutions of considerable antiquity that have historically been responsible for legal education. Their respective governing bodies, the benches, exercise the exclusive right of admitting persons to practice by a formal call to the bar. They consist of the

London Bridge Summary

London Bridge, any of several successive structures spanning the River Thames between Borough High Street in Southwark and King William Street in the City of London. The Old London Bridge of nursery rhyme fame dates from 1176, when Peter of Colechurch, a priest and chaplain of St. Mary’s of

Tower of London Summary

Tower of London, royal fortress and London landmark. Its buildings and grounds served historically as a royal palace, a political prison, a place of execution, an arsenal, a royal mint, a menagerie, and a public records office. It is located on the north bank of the River Thames, in the extreme