Ten fascinating facts about London

London is one of the world's most fascinating cities. Read this and you will know why.

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Rome was the first city in the world to reach a population of one million in 133 BC. London, England, reached the mark in 1810. Today, there are over 300 cities in the world with a population in excess of 1 million.
Construction of the Tower of London began in 1078. Since then it has housed a zoo, an observatory, a mint, a prison, a royal palace, and is now home of the crown jewels.
In 1569 England held its first state lottery and tickets were obtainable from the west door of St. Paul's Cathedral, London.
Strangely although the Great Fire of London in 1666 destroyed half of London only six people were injured.
If you think London is huge - you need to know that the actual City of London is just one square mile. All other major roads such as Oxford Street, Piccadilly and Regent Street actually come under "The City of Westminster"
Big Ben is not a clock. It is a bell located in the clock tower of the Houses of Parliament in London and it weighs 13 1/2 tons, is nine feet in diameter, and stands higher than a man (7 1/2 feet). It is not even very old, as it was installed a little more than a hundred years ago, in 1859.
The high roofs of London taxicabs were originally designed to keep gentlemen from knocking off their top hats as they entered and left the vehicles.
London cabbies are said to have 'the knowledge' because they have memorised all the streets and locations in London. They would know that there are over 50 High Streets in London, which has over 600 miles of roads. And yes, the traffic crawls along - it moves at the same average speed in Central London as it did in 1911.
There are more languages spoken in multicultural London than in any other city in the world.
Even though Her Majesty the Queen is sovereign of The United Kingdom, she is not allowed to enter the City of London with seeking the permission of its Lord Mayor.

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