The term ‘taxicab’ was first used in the late 1800s when the single horse-drawn Hansom cab invented in 1834 by architect Joseph Hansom was refined and redesigned by John Chapman to include a mechanized taximeter to measure journey fares. Although first used in London and other UK cities, it’s patent was quickly adopted by other […]
A woolly mammoth skull that is! And that was back in 1864. London and its surrounding suburbs are teeming with fossils, bones and remains from the Prehistoric, Bronze and Iron Ages. Of the 108 dinosaur species unearthed in Britain, you’d be surprised at how many were found in and around the capital, this includes the […]
The Women of the Lens Festival is the first British film festival for black women and women of colour and this is its first festival year. There are four days of panel discussions and screenings of shorts and features in all genres from drama to documentaries, with black women central to creation and production. It’s […]
Tate Britain’s Edward Burne-Jones exhibition (until Feb 24) celebrates this Victorian painter as the last of the Pre-Raphaelites. It’s his first solo exhibition at the Tate since 1933, with over 150 of his works on show. This article covers the rise of the Pre-Raphaelites and examines their creative principles. The Bloomsbury area of West Central London comprising […]
WITH all the hype about Star Wars: The Last Jedi and the countdown to its much-awaited premiere on Dec 14th, any wonder that the Science Museum has got in on the act. The bonafide home of science without the fiction is advertising £16.50 tickets for premiere night where you can watch the latest in this […]
KEATS HOUSE held a special Halloween celebration of Keats and Gothic literature with a complimentary Gothic cocktail on entry for those who braved the host’s tales of death, romance and the supernatural. The evening began with a historian giving a short lecture on the earliest Gothic literature, notable among them a 1764 novel called The […]
THIS THROWBACK sweet shop in Spitalfields celebrates the confectionery sellers of yesteryear where you could pop in with your loose change and buy quarters of rhubarb and custard sweets, bon bons, gobstoppers, mints or menthol candy – and it exists today. And all the shelves are taken up by jars of this candy and nothing […]
Where bronze statues of fictitious characters such as Sherlock Holmes take pride of place alongside those of historic British kings, queens and heads of state. The streets are the unofficial exhibition space for the public art in London Town. So if you don’t like galleries or museums you’ve no excuse!
Strangely enough, many people still believe Captain Bligh and Fletcher Christian to be fictional characters because of the romantic and swashbuckling nature of their exploits on the High Seas and the escape to the idyllic islands of Tahiti. It’s a tale amazing enough to grace any worthy book of literature and, indeed, movie of which […]
Brazilian artist Alexandre Gondim celebrates ‘Connections to the Mind’ his first solo exhibition in the UK. Displayed at the Willesden Library Gallery until April 29th, it’s a collection of abstract works with more than a touch of South American colour. What’s Hot London? interviewed him to find out what inspired his latest work. Congratulations on […]
Hillary Clinton Graffiti/Painting Shoreditch By Street Artist Pegasus
