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.
Standing at 310m high, the Shard will own the title of the EU's tallest building when completed in 2012. In 1098 the White Tower was named Britain's tallest building standing at a mere 27m tall.
The British Museum has more than 7 million objects from every continent, some of which have been controversial. Read more.
The V&A is the world’s largest museum of decorative art and design and holds 4.5 million objects. Henry Cole, the museum’s first director, printed the world’s first Christmas card in 1843.
Built as a memorial to Queen Victoria's husband in 1871, the Royal Albert Hall's vast rotunda was once described by the monarch as looking like 'the British constitution'. Read more.
Hampstead Heath was a favourite outing for Karl Marx and his family, and held a popular fair in the 19th century. Like the Guy Fawkes night bonfires held here, it oftern turned drunken and violent.
Piccadilly is named after a type of broad lace collar fashionable in the early 17th century, the ‘piccadil’. The best examples were sold by a local tailor whose shop became known as Piccadilly Hall.
In the 18th century the park was notorious for highwaymen and Horace Walpole was one of many robbed here. Handel’s ‘Music for the Royal Fireworks’ was composed for an event here in 1749.
Behind the Pump House is a statue of a brown dog. In 1985 it replaced the original, removed in 1910 when it became a focus of riots between medical students and animal rights campaigners.
