38. London UFOs Part Four Newspapers across the world were being bombarded by UFO reports by the time the ‘50s had glided by. On July 15th 1963 a farmer from Charlton found a crater, measuring 2 ½ metres wide and the same deep on his land. Around the hole were four impressions, as if something had stood or landed there – soil and foliage surrounding the hole were scorched. Weird lights seen over the......

37. London UFOs Part Three The 40s were the start of something huge for ufology after pilot Kenneth Arnold observed nine disc-like craft over Washington in 1947. For London, it was the 22nd of November when a female witness, whilst under hypnosis, spoke of being abducted by two silver suited females and put before a man who burned the figures ‘H6AQ’ onto her leg, which were still visible when she awoke from her trance.......

10. Scareships Just previous to the First World War, as Germany prepared to release the Zeppelin air ships, a spate of phantom airship sightings took grip on the world. London was just one city in the UK to become besieged by the mysterious aircraft that had no definitive origin. Were they the first UFOs? How did such craft seem to vanish or escape pursuit? Here's a chronicle pertaining to the capital: 9th May 1909......

London Grand Prix ruled out. Civil servant seduced by slick oil giant at Wimbledon. Spit 'n' polish on St Paul's revealed. Green experts ban cycling to work. Image of last night's queue-heavy, rainsoaked Chinwag event courtesy of renaissancechambara's Flickr Photostream.......

This Week In London’s History Monday – 2nd July 1865: One-time Methodist minister William Booth preaches to a large crowd at an open-air ‘mission’ in Whitechapel, founding the ‘East London Christian Mission’, which would later be renamed ‘The Salvation Army’. Tuesday – 3rd July 1981: A punk concert at the Hamborough Tavern in Southall, West London, leads to fighting between skinheads and Asian youths. The riot is just one of many violent ‘uprisings’ to......

This Week In London’s History Monday – 21st May 1853: The Aquatic Vivarium, the world’s first public aquarium, is opened in Regent’s Park. Tuesday – 22nd May 1897: The Blackwall Tunnel is officially opened by the Prince of Wales, becoming the longest underwater tunnel in the world (at the time). The original tunnel now forms the western (northbound) carriageway – the adjacent tunnel that houses the eastern (southbound) carriageway was opened in 1967. Wednesday......

This Week In London’s History Monday – 14th May 1842: The first fully illustrated weekly newspaper, the Illustrated London News is launched, costing sixpence. It was still being published weekly as recently as 1971, but its publication frequency has since declined. Tuesday – 15th May 1981: Zara Phillips, the daughter of Princess Anne and Captain Mark Phillips, is born in a private wing of St Mary’s Hospital in Paddington. She is currently the world......

This Week In London’s History Monday – 7th May 1663: The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane opens for the first time. There have actually been four theatres on this site since the 17th century, and the first one didn’t even last 9 years before burning down in 1672. The second was built in 1674, but demolished in 1791. The third lasted from 1794 until it burned down in 1809 (flammable things, these theatres). Finally, the......

Remember Ken's advice that we should avoid flushing our piss away whenever possible, to conserve water? Well this chap wins a mayoral gold star for not yanking once in 18 months. He can't. He has no toilet. Nor bath, sink or shower. The spectacularly alliterative Gamal Gheedan of Golders Green has to discharge into bottles, and employ buckets to capture his fecal creations, all thanks to a tardy contractor who repeatedly delayed a bathroom......

Tomma Abts has become the first female painter to win the £25,000 Turner Prize. She was awarded the prize last night by Yoko Ono in a ceremony held at Tate Britain. The run-up to the event was dogged with the usual controversy - the Stuckists had a bit of a protest outside the gallery and one of the judges, Lynn Barber, said the judging process was so farcical that it has seriously 'dampened her......