Another Little Look at London History Quiz

Answer: he dines with guests

Whenever a party of thirteen dinner guests are booked into the hotel Kasper joins them. This dates back to 1898 when the host of a party of thirteen was killed shortly after the dinner party was held. The superstition that it's unlucky to have thirteen at dinner is thought to date back to the Last Supper.

Answer: 1944

Mrs Helen Duncan was found guilty in 1944 and sentenced to nine months in Holloway prison. It was wartime and it's claimed that during her séances she contacted the souls of sailors killed in action before their next of kin had been informed, or that the loss of a ship became public knowledge.

The case so incensed Winston Churchill that he demanded to know why the 1735 act was being used in a modern courtroom. Later in 1944, Jane Rebecca Yorke was also found guilty under the 1735 act, but only fined due to advanced years.

The act was repealed in the 1950s, replaced by the Fraudulent Mediums Act intended on punishing frauds pretending to be mediums for purposes other than entertainment.

Answer: Theatre Royal , Drury Lane

Though the present building dates only from 1812, the original was founded on the same site in 1663.When Oliver Cromwell came to power the theatre suffered the same fate as all theatres, in other words it was closed. When the monarchy was once again restored in the figure of Charles second the theatre regained its licence and in the process the king was to meet perhaps his most famous mistress Nell Gwynn.

Answer: Middle Temple

Middle Temple is one of the Inns of Court. The dining room of the Middle Temple was built in 1573, and it was here that the play was first performed on 2nd February 1602.

Answer: The Great Fire of London

Sometimes called 'the fat boy of Pie Corner' because this golden cherub marks the spot where the fire finished. Londoners of the time thought there was a significance in the names of where it started and finished, Pudding Lane and Pie Corner. They thought it was God rebuking them for their over indulgence, so beneath the golden boy is a plaque engraved with the words 'This boy is in memory put up for the Late Fire of London. Occasioned by the sin of gluttony 1666'.

Answer: All of these

The spire consists of four octagonal arcades of diminishing size topped with an obelisk, and even today this is the favourite shape of a wedding cake in Britain. Not only was Samuel Pepys baptised at St Brides but so were all his siblings. Finally St Brides is familiar terminology for St Bridget who was Ireland's second most popular saint, she is remembered for being able to turn water into beer.

Answer: She dangled her son out of a window

When Charles ll refused to give their child a title she dangled the baby boy by his legs from the upstairs window of Lauderdale House. She threatened to drop the infant unless the king agreed, "so be it" said the king standing below "save the Earl of Burford". On hearing this Nell and baby retreated safe and satisfied into the house.

Answer: Broadcasting House

Broadcasting House has been home to the BBC since 1932. The figures were sculpted by Eric Gill, they show Shakespeare's Ariel, as a symbol of broadcasting, being sent out into the world by Prospero.

Answer: West Ham United

West Ham started out as the works team for the Thames Ironworks about 1900. When it was suggested the players should be paid the directors of the ironworks disagreed, so the football club cut all links with the firm and moved to their present ground at Upton Park.

Answer: Lord Mayor of London

Dame Mary Donaldson was Lord Mayor 1983-1984. The Lord Mayor takes office for one year only which begins each November. The inauguration is commemorated with the Lord Mayors Show. This procession leaves Mansion House and winds its way the the Royal Inns of Justice where the new Lord Mayor swears his/her allegiance to the crown.