events london

6 events that shaped London

Name

2012 Olympic Games

The Great Fire

The 1st underground

Bubonic plague

the Tower of London

Content

The chalk-rich banks of the River Thames made the area desirable for settlement long before Romans claimed the region as their own in AD 43. Roman settlement along the Thames was roughly the size of Hyde Park and known to the Romans as Londinium. It is thought that this is where the modern name ‘London’ comes from but some scholars of early druidic cultures suggest that the name actually originates from ‘Llandin’, the early Welsh name for modern-day Parliament Hill.

Where does the name London come from?

The original structure, known as the White Tower, was meant to demonstrate the strength of his rule to the British people. William’s White Tower served as the royal residence for much of its 900-year existence but by the 16th century, the Tower of London became known more for its function as a prison. To this day visitors can see etchings on the walls left by political prisoners dating back to the Tudor era.

Why did William the Conqueror build the Tower of London?

The first major epidemic, referred to as the Black Death, wiped out nearly half of the city’s population between 1347-1351. Relief only coming when cold weather temporarily stemmed the flea population – the plague was predominately spread by fleas that fed on healthy people after receiving a blood meal from infected humans and rats. According to the Museum of London: “A major outbreak of the disease struck roughly every 20-30 years, killing around 20% of London’s population each time.” This ended with the last plague outbreak between 1664-1665, but the plague left a lasting mark on the city with a peppering of ‘plague pits’ throughout London.

Bubonic plague sporadically threatened Londoners from 1347-1665

Only a year after the last bout of plague, the Great Fire of London further devastated the city – though it beneficially wiped out much of the plague-infected rat and flea population. London experienced many fires throughout its history, but the 1666 fire is most well-known for the level of destruction it wrought – the fire destroyed just under 70 per cent of London buildings, including the original St Paul’s Cathedral.

The Great Fire of London burned nearly 70% of the city in 1666

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Few Londoners could imagine getting around the city without the complicated network of trains weaving their way deep beneath the streets. The Underground, known by locals as ‘the Tube’, is such a London institution that its map design is featured heavily on tourist memorabilia. The Tube revolutionised how cities planned public transit systems, spawning imitations in other major metropolises like Paris and New York.

In 1863, London introduced the world’s first underground railway

The Queen and James Bond... Sorry, what?

The 2012 Olympic Games made London shine as an international metropolis

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