Timeline of London facts for kids

Welcome to a journey through time! This is the story of London, the amazing capital city of England and the United Kingdom.

London's Ancient Past

Prehistoric Times

• 120,000 BC – Imagine elephants and hippos roaming where Trafalgar Square is now!
• 6000 BC – Early people hunted and gathered food where Heathrow Terminal 5 stands today.
• 4000 BC – A wooden structure stood by the River Thames, near where Vauxhall Bridge is now.
• 3800 BC – A large ancient monument called the Stanwell Cursus was built.
• 2300–1500 BC – People might have lived on Chiswick Eyot, an island in the Thames.
• 1500 BC – A Bronze Age bridge crossed the Thames or led to a lost island.
• 300–1 BC – An Iron Age settlement in Woolwich was possibly London's first port.

Roman and Anglo-Saxon London

• 47 AD – The Romans founded the original settlement of Londinium.
• 50 – The first London Bridge was built from wood.
• 57 – The oldest known handwritten document in the UK was created in London. It was a Roman financial record.
• 60 or 61 – Boudica's forces attacked and destroyed Londinium.
• 122 – A large public square, a forum, was finished in Londinium. Emperor Hadrian visited the city.
• c. 190–225 – The London Wall was built around the city.
• During 3rd century – London's population grew to about 50,000 because it was a major port.
• c. 214 – London became the capital of a Roman province.
• c. 240 – The London Mithraeum, a Roman temple, was built.
• 255 – Work started on a wall along the river in London.
• 296 – Constantius Chlorus took over Londinium, saving it from attack.
• 368 – By this time, the city was known as Augusta, showing it was a Roman capital.
• 490 – The Saxons took power, and the Roman city was mostly left empty.
• By early 7th century – A new settlement called Lundenwic grew near modern-day Aldwych.
• c. 604 – Mellitus became the first Bishop of London in the modern era.
• 650 – A busy market was active in London.
• 675 – An early fire destroyed the wooden Anglo-Saxon cathedral, which was then rebuilt in stone.
• By 757 – London came under the control of powerful kings like Æthelbald of Mercia and Offa.
• 798 – Another early fire happened in London.
• 842 – Vikings raided London, causing "great slaughter," and later attacked it in 851.
• 871 – Danes stayed in London for the winter.
• 886 – King Alfred the Great brought London back under the control of Mercia. The London Mint was also started.
• 893 – Edward the Elder, Alfred's son, forced invading Vikings to take shelter on Thorney Island.
• 911 – Edward the Elder, King of Wessex, moved London from Mercia to Wessex.
• 925 – Æthelstan was crowned King of Wessex at Kingston upon Thames.
• 978 – Æthelred was crowned King of the English in Kingston upon Thames.
• 982 – An early fire took place in London.
• 989 – Another early fire burned from Aldgate to Ludgate.

London in the Middle Ages

The 11th Century: Norman Conquest

• 1009 – Vikings attacked London in August.
• 1014 – Olaf II Haraldsson of Norway might have attacked London and burned the wooden London Bridge.
• 1016 – King Edmund Ironside defeated Cnut the Great at the Battle of Brentford. Cnut then attacked London.
• 1065 – Westminster Abbey was officially opened.
• 1066 – Harold Godwinson was crowned King of England, likely in Westminster Abbey.
• Mid-October 1066 – William the Conqueror burned Southwark while trying to capture London Bridge.
• 25 December 1066 – William the Conqueror was crowned King of England in Westminster Abbey.
• 1067 – The City of London was given a special royal charter by William the Conqueror. This guaranteed its old rights.
• Around 1078 – Building of the White Tower (Tower of London) began. It was mostly finished by 1088.
• 1087 – A big fire destroyed much of London, including St Paul's Cathedral.
• 1091 – A tornado destroyed the wooden London Bridge and damaged many buildings.
• 1099 – Westminster Hall was built.

The 12th Century: Growth and Change

• 1100 – Henry I was crowned at Westminster Abbey.
• 1101 – Ranulf Flambard became the first person to escape from the Tower of London.
• 1106 – Southwark Priory was re-established.
• 1109 – Kingston upon Thames received its first official document.
• 1114 – Merton Priory was founded.
• 1123 – St Bartholomew's Hospital, St Bartholomew-the-Great priory, and Smithfield meat market were started.
• 1133 – The first annual Bartholomew Fair was established at Smithfield. It became England's largest cloth fair.
• 1135 – A "Great Fire" destroyed the wooden London Bridge and badly damaged St Paul's Cathedral.
• 1141 – Matilda I of Boulogne recaptured London during a period of civil war.
• By 1144 – Winchester Palace was completed in Southwark.
• 1147 – The Royal Hospital was founded by Queen Matilda.
• 1163 – A new wooden London Bridge was built. Construction of the first stone bridge began in 1176.
• 1185 – Temple Church was officially opened.
• 1189 – Richard I was crowned in Westminster Abbey. There was also a rising against Jews in London.
• 1189 – Henry Fitz-Ailwin de Londonestone became the first mayor of London.
• 1196 – A popular uprising of poor people against the rich was led by William Fitz Osbert.
• 1199 – King John confirmed that the City of London could elect its own Sheriffs.

The 13th Century: Royal Power and Disasters

• c. 1200 – The royal treasury was moved to Westminster from Winchester.
• 1209 – The stone London Bridge was completed.
• 1210 – Three "leopards" (probably lions) were given to Henry III of England, starting the menagerie at the Tower of London.
• 1212 – A "Great Fire" in Southwark and on London Bridge caused deaths. Thatched roofs were then banned in the City.
• 1215 – Rebellious nobles took over London. The Magna Carta was signed, protecting London's liberties.
• 1216 – Louis, Count of Artois, invaded England and entered London without a fight.
• c. 1219 – The first wooden Kingston Bridge was finished.
• 1222 – Rioting happened after London beat Westminster in a wrestling match.
• 1232 – The Domus Conversorum, a place for Jewish converts to Christianity, was set up.
• 1235 – A famine in England killed 20,000 people in London.
• 1236 – Many people died in floods in Woolwich.
• 1240 – Old St Paul's Cathedral was officially opened.
• 1245 – Savoy Palace was built.
• 1247 – Bethlem Royal Hospital was founded as a priory.
• 1255 – An elephant joined the royal animal collection at the Tower of London.
• 1257 – A volcano eruption and bad harvests caused a famine, killing 15,000 people in London.
• 1263 – Rebels occupied London.
• 1264 – A massacre of Jews in London occurred during a conflict.
• 1265 – Covent Garden market was established.
• 1267 – Gilbert de Clare, 6th Earl of Hertford, occupied London.
• 1269 – The rebuilt Westminster Abbey was officially opened.
• 1272 – The Fishmongers Company was given its official document.
• By 1290 – St Etheldreda's Church was built.
• 1291–4 – Eleanor crosses were put up to mark the funeral route of Queen Eleanor of Castile.
• 1296 – Edward I brought the Stone of Scone from Scotland to Westminster Abbey.
• 1299 – A fire damaged the Palace of Westminster.

The 14th and 15th Centuries: Trade and Revolts

• 14th–15th century – London’s port became a major European center for distributing goods, especially textiles.
• 1305 – Scottish rebel William Wallace was executed at Smithfield.
• 1307 – The Tabard inn was established in Southwark.
• 1308 – The Woolwich Ferry was first mentioned.
• 1309 – The Thames froze over.
• 1314 – Old St Paul's Cathedral was completed. The Mayor banned playing football in London.
• 1320 – German merchants set up the Steelyard in Dowgate.
• 1327 – The Goldsmiths' Company and Merchant Taylors' Company were officially recognized.
• c. 1329 – Marshalsea prison was operating in Southwark.
• 1348 – The Black Death epidemic was at its worst.
• 1354 – The title of Lord Mayor of London was first used.
• 1366 – The Jewel Tower of the Palace of Westminster was completed.
• 1377 – Riots happened in London after John of Gaunt attacked the City's rights.
• 1381 – The Peasants' Revolt took place. Rebels marched on London, destroying palaces and storming the Tower of London.
• 1381 – Wat Tyler was killed by William Walworth, the Lord Mayor of London.
• 1388 – The Inner and Middle Temples were recorded as official groups.
• 1392 – King Richard II regained control of London.
• 1397 – Richard Whittington became mayor for the first of four times.
• 1407 – Plague struck London.
• 1414 – A rebellion by the Lollards in London was stopped.
• 1416 – The Guildhall was rebuilt.
• 1421 – Whittington's Longhouse, a public toilet, opened in Cheapside.
• 1428 – A serious fire happened at Baynard's Castle.
• 1433 – Greenwich Park was enclosed by Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester.
• 1434 – The Thames froze downstream of London Bridge.
• 1442 – The City of London School was established.
• 1444 – A serious fire occurred at Old St Paul's Cathedral.
• 1450 – Jack Cade's tax rebellion was put down.
• 1455 – The Battle of St Albans took place near London.
• 1460 – During the Wars of the Roses, Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, and Edward, Earl of March, marched on London.
• 1471 – At the Battle of Barnet, Edward IV defeated the Lancastrian army.
• 1473 – St Anthony's Chapel, the first medical facility on the Whittington Hospital site, was built for people with leprosy.
• 1476 – William Caxton set up the first printing press in England in Westminster.
• 1478 – The Canterbury Tales was published by William Caxton.
• 1481 – Kingston upon Thames was granted borough status.
• 1485 – The Yeoman Warders of the Tower of London were formed.
• 1495 – The rebuilt Westminster Abbey was completed.
• 1497 – Cornish rebels were defeated by Henry VII at the Battle of Deptford Bridge.

Bishopsgate

London in the Tudor and Stuart Eras

The 16th Century: Royal Changes and New Buildings

• 1500 – Wynkyn de Worde moved his print shop to Fleet Street.
• 1501 – The first royal court was held at the new Richmond Palace.
• 1503 – Construction of Henry VII's Chapel at Westminster Abbey began.
• 1509 – Henry VIII married Catherine of Aragon and was crowned King of England. London's population reached 100,000.
• 1509 – St Paul's School, London, was founded by John Colet.
• 1512 – Savoy Hospital opened. Woolwich Dockyard was established for the Royal Navy.
• 1513 – Deptford Dockyard was established for the Royal Navy.
• 1514 – Trinity House was established to regulate sailors. The Henry Grace à Dieu, the largest warship in the world, was built.
• 1517 – The Evil May Day unrest occurred.
• 1528 – The Worshipful Company of Clothworkers was officially recognized. A major outbreak of sweating sickness appeared.
• 1532 – St Andrew Undershaft church was built. Henry VIII bought the area that would become St. James's Park.
• 1535 – The first Carthusian Martyrs of London were killed.
• 1536 – Anne Boleyn was executed at the Tower of London. The Thames froze. St James's Palace was built. Hyde Park was acquired by Henry VIII and enclosed as a deer park.
• 1537 – The Honourable Artillery Company was officially recognized. The London Charterhouse was dissolved.
• 1539 – St Thomas' Hospital was closed.
• 1540 – Southwark Priory was given to the Crown. Thomas Cromwell was executed on Tower Hill.
• 1543 – Queen Elizabeth's Hunting Lodge in Epping Forest was completed.
• 1547 – King Henry VIII died at the Palace of Whitehall. His son Edward VI was crowned.
• 1551 – St Thomas' Hospital was re-established.
• 1553 – Lady Jane Grey was proclaimed Queen but was imprisoned after nine days. Queen Mary was proclaimed the rightful Queen.
• 1554 – Wyatt's rebellion began. Lady Jane Grey was executed for treason.
• 1555 – John Rogers was burned at the stake, becoming the first Marian Protestant martyr.
• 1556 – The City took over Bridewell Palace as a prison and hospital for homeless children.
• 1559 – Elizabeth I of England was crowned in Westminster Abbey. A new Custom House was built.
• 1560 – Westminster Abbey became a royal church.
• 1561 – The spire of Old St Paul's Cathedral caught fire and collapsed.
• 1563 – A plague outbreak killed over 20,000 people.
• 1565 – Thomas Gresham founded the Royal Exchange.
• 1567 – John Brayne built the Red Lion theatre, possibly the first purpose-built playhouse in Britain since Roman times.
• 1571 – The Royal Exchange opened. The first permanent London gallows were put up at Tyburn.
• 1572 – Harrow School was founded.
• 1576 – James Burbage opened London's second permanent public playhouse, The Theatre in Shoreditch.
• 1579 – Nonsuch House was built on London Bridge.
• 1580 – An earthquake caused some damage and deaths in London.
• 1581 – Francis Drake was knighted aboard the Golden Hind in Deptford. A waterwheel was installed on London Bridge to supply drinking water.
• 1587 – The Rose theatre was built in Southwark.
• 1592 – A plague outbreak caused at least 19,000 deaths, leading to theatre closures.
• 1595 – The Swan (theatre) was built in Southwark.
• 1597 – Gresham College was founded.
• 1598 – Survey of London by Stow was published. The Theatre was dismantled.
• 1599 – The Globe Theatre opened in Southwark, using materials from The Theatre.

The 17th Century: Plague, Fire, and Restoration

• 1600 – The Fortune Playhouse was built. The East India Company was granted a special document.
• 1601 – Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, was executed for treason.
• 1603 – Elizabeth I died and James VI of Scotland became King of England. A bubonic plague epidemic killed many people.
• 1605 – The Gunpowder Plot to blow up the Houses of Parliament was foiled.
• 1606 – The Susan Constant set sail from the Thames, leading the fleet to found Jamestown, Virginia.
• 1608 – Plague recurred in London.
• 1611 – The King James Bible was first published. Thomas Sutton founded Charterhouse School.
• 1613 – The New River opened to supply London with fresh water.
• 1616 – The Anchor Brewery was established in Southwark.
• 1617 – The first one-way streets were created near the Thames.
• 1619 – The royal Banqueting House, Whitehall, was destroyed by fire. Inigo Jones was asked to design a replacement.
• 1620 – The Mayflower embarked from Rotherhithe with Pilgrims bound for North America.
• 1621 – One of the first English language newspapers circulated in London. The Hackney coach was first recorded.
• 1622 – The new Banqueting House, Whitehall, opened.
• 1623 – 95 people died when a floor collapsed at the French ambassador's house. The "First Folio" of Shakespeare's plays was published.
• 1625 – Over 40,000 people died from the bubonic plague. The court and Parliament moved to Oxford.
• 1626 – Charles I of England was crowned in Westminster Abbey.
• 1630 – The central square of Covent Garden was laid out, and a market began.
• 1631 – London's population reached 130,163 residents.
• 1633 – Fire engines were used for the first time in England to put out a fire on London Bridge.
• 1635 – The first General Post Office opened in Bishopsgate.
• 1637 – Hyde Park opened to the public.
• 1642 – Charles I tried to arrest five members of Parliament. Parliament ordered the closure of London's playhouses.
• 1642 – Royalist forces failed to take London at the Battle of Turnham Green.
• 1642–43 – Defenses called the Lines of Communication were built around the city.
• 1647 – Oliver Cromwell took control of Parliament with the New Model Army. The original Eleanor Cross at Charing Cross was pulled down.
• 1649 – An explosion in Tower Street killed 67 people and destroyed 60 houses. Charles I was executed outside the Banqueting House, Whitehall.
• Mid 17th century – London's population reached 500,000.
• 1652 – A coffee house, opened by Pasqua Rosée, was in business near Cornhill.
• 1657 – England's first synagogue and Jewish cemetery opened in London. England's first chocolate house opened.
• 1660 – Samuel Pepys began writing his diary. Charles II arrived in London and became king. The Royal Society was founded. The first actress appeared on the professional stage.
• 1661 – Four deceased regicides of Charles I were executed after their deaths. Charles II of England was crowned. Pall Mall was laid out.
• 1662 – Pepys saw a Punch and Judy show in Covent Garden, the first on record. The first hackney carriage licenses were issued.
• 1663 – Theatre Royal, Drury Lane opened.
• 1664 – The first pelicans to live in St. James's Park were donated.
• 1665 – The Great Plague of London killed over 70,000 people. The King and court left London to avoid the plague.
• 1666 – The Great Fire of London destroyed more than 13,000 buildings, including Old St Paul's Cathedral. Only 6 people were known to have died. It took over 10 years to rebuild the City.
• 1667 – The Rebuilding of London Act 1666 went into effect, enforcing fireproof construction.
• 1669 – Quaker goldsmiths formed a partnership that became Barclays.
• 1670 – The second Rebuilding Act was passed to fund the rebuilding of St Paul's Cathedral. Leicester Square was laid out.
• 1671 – Thomas Blood tried to steal the Crown Jewels from the Tower of London.
• 1672 – The Theatre Royal in Bridges Street burned down. The first commercial public concert series in Europe began.
• 1673 – The rebuilding of St Mary-le-Bow church and Temple Bar gate were completed.
• 1674 – The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane reopened. Two children's skeletons, believed to be the Princes in the Tower, were found at the White Tower.
• 1675 – The reconstruction of St Paul's Cathedral under Sir Christopher Wren began. The Royal Observatory, Greenwich, was founded.
• 1676 – A fire in Southwark destroyed 625 houses. Bethlem Hospital moved to new buildings.
• 1677 – The Monument to the Great Fire of London, designed by Wren, was completed.
• 1678 – Magistrate Sir Edmund Berry Godfrey was found dead, leading to claims of a "Popish Plot."
• 1679 – An effigy of the Pope was burned after a large procession.
• 1680 – William Dockwra's London Penny Post mail service began.
• 1681 – Oliver Plunkett was executed at Tyburn, the last Catholic martyr to die in England.
• 1682 – Work began on the Royal Hospital Chelsea for soldiers. A fire in Wapping made 1,500 people homeless.
• 1683 – The River Thames frost fair began, lasting several months.
• 1684 – 10 Downing Street was built in Westminster.
• 1685 – James II was crowned. The first organized street lighting began. Many Huguenots fled to London from France.
• 1687 – Isaac Newton's Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica was published by the Royal Society of London.
• 1688 – William of Orange entered London during the Glorious Revolution.
• 1689 – William III and Mary II were proclaimed co-rulers. Work began on remodelling Hampton Court Palace.
• 1690 – The Great Synagogue of London was built for Ashkenazi Jews.
• 1691 – A fire at the Palace of Whitehall destroyed its Stone Gallery.
• 1693 – The Ladies' Mercury, the first periodical for women, began publication.
• 1694 – The Bank of England was established by royal charter. Queen Mary II founded the Royal Hospital for Seamen at Greenwich.
• 1697 – St Paul's Cathedral held its first service after rebuilding.
• 1698 – The Palace of Whitehall was destroyed by fire. Czar Peter I of Russia visited England to study shipbuilding.
• 1699 – Billingsgate Fish Market was made a permanent institution. The Howland Great Wet Dock opened.

London in the 18th Century

Early 1700s: New Beginnings

• c. 1700 – The Kit-Cat Club was established.
• 1701 – The Bevis Marks Synagogue was built.
• 1702 – The first regular English national newspaper, The Daily Courant, was published in Fleet Street. Anne, Queen of Great Britain was crowned.
• 1703 – The Great Storm of 1703 damaged ships and buildings. Buckingham House was built.
• 1705 – The King Charles Court, part of Greenwich Hospital, was completed.
• 1706 – Thomas Twining opened Twinings in the Strand, Britain's first known tea house.
• 1708 – The new St Paul's Cathedral was topped out.
• 1709 – The Tatler magazine began publication.
• 1710 – The Sacheverell riots took place. A commission was set up to build fifty new churches.
• 1711 – Handel's Rinaldo, the first Italian opera for the London stage, premiered. The rebuilding of St Paul's Cathedral was declared complete.
• 1712 – The German composer George Frideric Handel settled in London.
• 1714 – George I of Great Britain was crowned in Westminster Abbey.
• 1715 – A major fire in Thames Street destroyed over 100 houses. The last total solar eclipse visible in London for almost 900 years occurred.
• 1717 – The first ballet in Britain was performed. The first Freemasonic Grand Lodge was founded. Handel's Water Music was performed on the Thames for King George I.

Mid-1700s: New Hospitals and Bridges

• 1719 – A Royal Academy of Music was established to perform operas.
• 1720 – The first patient was admitted to the Westminster Public Infirmary, later St George's Hospital.
• 1721 – Thomas Guy founded Guy's Hospital.
• 1722 – Daniel Defoe's A Journal of the Plague Year was published. Traffic on London Bridge was required to keep left.
• 1723 – The Chelsea Waterworks Company received a special document.
• 1724 – Cannons, a grand house in Edgware, was completed.
• 1725 – The church of St George's, Hanover Square was completed. A fire in Wapping destroyed 70 houses.
• 1726 – The new church of St Martin-in-the-Fields was dedicated. Fournier Street was built in Spitalfields, home to Huguenot silk weavers.
• 1727 – George II of Great Britain was crowned in Westminster Abbey.
• 1728 – Gay's Beggar's Opera premiered. Queen Caroline divided Kensington Gardens from Hyde Park.
• 1729 – The first (wooden) Putney Bridge was completed.
• 1730 – The River Westbourne was dammed to form The Serpentine in Hyde Park.
• 1731 – The Gentleman's Magazine began publication. A fire at White's Chocolate House was put out quickly.
• 1732 – The original Theatre Royal, Covent Garden, opened.
• 1733 – St George's Hospital opened at Hyde Park Corner.
• 1734 – The Bank of England moved to its modern-day location.
• 1735 – Robert Walpole became the first Prime Minister to occupy 10 Downing Street.
• 1736 – Riots occurred in east London protesting against Irish immigrants.
• 1737 – The Theatrical Licensing Act introduced censorship to the London stage.
• 1738 – John Wesley experienced a spiritual rebirth, launching the Methodist movement.
• 1739 – The building of Westminster Bridge began. The Foundling Hospital was granted its royal charter. The Thames froze.
• 1740 – The London Infirmary was established. The first Bow Street Magistrates' Court was presided over.
• 1741 – The Royal Military Academy, Woolwich was established to train officers.
• 1742 – The construction of the Foundling Hospital started. The Chelsea Water Works Company introduced a steam pumping engine.
• 1743 – The Gin Act 1743 provoked riots in London. Ranelagh Gardens opened as pleasure grounds.
• 1745 – The song God Save the King was first performed. Panic spread in London during the Jacobite rising.
• 1746 – Francis Towneley was executed, and his head was one of the last to be publicly displayed on Temple Bar. Rocque's Map of London was published.
• 1748 – A fire in the City caused over £1,000,000 worth of damage. Henry Fielding organized the forerunner of the Bow Street Runners.
• 1749 – A firework display in Green Park celebrated a peace treaty, with Handel's Music for the Royal Fireworks performed.

Late 1700s: Enlightenment and Revolts

Westminster Bridge (1750), depicted by Joseph Farrington, 1789, with Westminster Hall and Westminster Abbey beyond

• 1750 – Two earthquakes were felt in London. The first Westminster Bridge opened.
• 1751 – St Luke's Hospital for Lunatics was founded.
• 1752 – Mansion House was completed.
• 1753 – The British Museum was established by Act of Parliament. The first Hampton Court Bridge opened.
• 1755 – Samuel Johnson's A Dictionary of the English Language was published.
• 1759 – The British Museum opened at Montagu House, Bloomsbury. The first Kew Bridge opened.
• 1760 – Hamleys toy shop was in business. Parts of the London Wall were demolished.
• 1761 – Two earthquakes occurred in London. George III of Great Britain was crowned. Buckingham Palace was sold to George III.
• 1762 – The "Cock Lane ghost" appeared. The Royal family first lived at Buckingham House.
• 1763 – Bow Street Horse Patrol were established to deal with highway robberies.
• 1764 – 8-year-old W. A. Mozart lived in London for a year and wrote his first symphonies.
• 1766 – James Christie held the first sale at Christie's auction house.
• 1767 – Newgate was demolished, leaving Temple Bar as the last City gate.
• 1768 – Philip Astley staged the first modern circus. The Royal Academy of Arts was established.
• 1769 – The first Blackfriars Bridge opened. The Spitalfield Riots by silk weavers occurred.
• 1771 – The first Battersea Bridge opened.
• 1773 – An informal Stock Exchange opened. Astley's Amphitheatre was founded.
• 1774 – The London Building Act aimed to standardize building quality.
• 1775–76 – A deadly influenza epidemic killed nearly 40,000 people.
• 1776 – The first purpose-built Freemasons' Hall opened. Construction of Somerset House began.
• 1777 – Richmond Bridge opened to traffic.
• 1778 – Wesley's Chapel opened for worship. Joseph Bramah patented an improved flush toilet.
• 1780 – The Gordon Riots, an anti-Catholic mob, attacked City banks. The riots ended with many deaths and arrests.
• 1782 – Sarah Siddons made a triumphant return to the Drury Lane Theatre. The rebuilt Newgate Prison was completed.
• 1783 – John Austin (highwayman) became the last person publicly executed at Tyburn.
• 1784 – The first hydrogen balloon flight in Britain took place from Moorfields.
• 1785 – The London Hospital Medical College opened as England's first chartered medical school.
• 1787 – The original Lord's Cricket Ground held its first cricket match.
• 1788 – The first edition of The Times newspaper was published under this title.
• 1789 – The first stone Kew Bridge opened. London plane trees were planted in Berkeley Square.
• 1791 – Austrian composer Joseph Haydn arrived in England. Camden Town development began.
• 1792 – The radical London Corresponding Society was formed. The first Gorsedd ceremony was held on Primrose Hill.
• 1794 – The rebuilt Theatre Royal, Drury Lane opened. The Ratcliffe Fire destroyed over 400 homes.
• 1795 – The London Missionary Society was established. George III was pelted with stones during bread riots.
• 1796 – Protests over bread prices continued. The coldest day in London was recorded.
• 1797 – John Hetherington wore the first top hat in public.
• 1798 – The Marine Police Force was formed on the Thames, the first organized police force in Britain. Rules (restaurant) opened, London's oldest restaurant on its original site.
• 1799 – Horsemonger Lane Gaol was completed in Southwark.

London in the 19th Century

London in the 20th Century

London in the 21st Century

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