Have you ever visited the capital city of the United Kingdom and wondered about its deep and fascinating history?
Maybe you’ve seen pictures of London that have sparked your curiosity to learn more about this famous city. Or maybe you’re wondering how this city has evolved over hundreds of years.
This is your chance to find out why London is so iconic and why people flock to visit every year.
More people live in London than any other city in the UK.
You might expect London to be bigger and busier than any other city in the country.
But you may be surprised that London is more than three times larger than the next biggest city, Manchester!
More than 9.6 million people call London home. This is far more than the 2.7 million people living in Manchester, making London the clear winner.
London has some of the world’s best universities.
Imperial College London and University College London are consistently ranked among the best universities in the world.
They are known for their research expertise and excellence in subjects like engineering, medicine, and business.
Around 23,000 students attend Imperial College London at any given time. More than 9,500 degrees are awarded annually.
Over at University College London, more than 50,000 students come through the doors every year!
Buses in London have been painted red for more than 100 years.
On the busy roads of London, the red bus is an iconic sight. But did you know that they have been painted red since 1905?
The London Motor Omnibus Company was the first to adopt red for their “Vanguard” fleet of buses that year.
In 1908, the London General Omnibus Company took over the Vanguard fleet. London buses have stayed red ever since, becoming a well-known feature of England’s largest city!
The British Museum is London’s most popular tourist attraction.
This famous museum in London welcomes more than five million visitors every year.
The museum contains exhibits from ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome, as well as Asia, the Middle East, and North America.
That isn’t the only popular museum in London, though.
Tourists also flock to the Natural History Museum, Tate Modern, National Gallery, and the Victoria and Albert Museum, all of which welcome at least 3 million people annually.
Buckingham Palace – one of London’s biggest tourist attractions – has 775 rooms.
This grand palace is the official London residence of the British monarch. Due to its vast size, it could take hours to explore.
It takes up a large chunk of the city, measuring 354 feet (108 meters) by 394 feet (120 meters).
The palace itself has 52 bedrooms for members of the royal family and their guests, plus 188 bedrooms for the staff. It also has a whopping 78 bathrooms and almost a hundred offices!
During the summer, visitors to London can buy tickets to Buckingham Palace and wander through 19 State Rooms.
At other times of the year, they are closed to the public as the King hosts official receptions and events in these extravagant rooms.
London was first known as Londinium.
Around 110-120 AD, the Romans built the Roman Fort of Londinium as the capital of Roman Britain.
The fort itself occupied a fairly small area, taking up just 400,000 square meters (around 1.5% of a square mile).
A city wall was built into the fort in 200 AD, but not long after, the site was shut down. Britannia (as Britain was known back then) had become more secure, and the fort was no longer needed.
If you visit London today, you can spot some of the remains of the Roman Fort of Londinium.
Take a city tour or look for them on Noble Street and along the London Wall, where you will see the old Roman Fort Gate.
“Big Ben” is the name of the bells, not the tower.
London’s iconic clock tower is often referred to as “Big Ben,” but did you know it is really called the Elizabeth Tower?
Known for decades as the Clock Tower, this striking building was renamed in 2012 to mark Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee.
The “Big Ben” bells have been chiming since 1367. You can hear them ringing throughout Westminster every hour.
And on New Year’s Eve in 1923, the whole country could hear the bells of Big Ben ringing as its chimes were broadcast on BBC Radio for the first time.
London’s smallest statue is just a few inches tall.
If you travel to Philpot Lane, you will find a tiny sculpture of two mice eating cheese. This is London’s tiniest statue, expertly constructed onto a building at 23 Eastcheap.
Nobody is quite sure why two mice fighting over a piece of cheese ended up on the wall of this grand building.
Some say the workmen decided to play a joke when they finished constructing the building in 1862.
Others believe mice kept stealing the workmen’s lunches, so they left the artwork behind as a tribute.
Whatever the reason, this little statue certainly piques the interest of those who pass by!
The world’s first underground railway was in London.
Subway systems and underground railways are common in cities worldwide today, but London was the only city to have one in 1863.
On London’s Metropolitan Railway, people could travel between Paddington and Farringdon, stopping at four other stations in between.
Today, there are more than 270 stations in London’s underground system, which locals know as “the Tube.”
