London United Kingdom Known for its bad food and its worse atmosphere, the Hotel d'Italie is far from the most famous of Victorian restaurants. But in 1894 it was host to one of the most exciting literary dinners of the century - the launch party for the scandalous and decadent Yellow Book. With everyone from Aubrey Beardsley to W. B. Yeats, it was a night to remember! Listen to find out more ...

London United Kingdom The wonderful inventions of John Joseph Merlin, immigrant, instrument maker, and socialite extraordinaire. With a poem about his inventions, to listen to while walking around Hanover Square.

former Roman catholic diocese of London United Kingdom Here, in 1803, was one of the first public demonstrations of high-pressure steam locomotion, by Cornish inventor Richard Trevithick, aka Captain Dick.

London United Kingdom In the eighteenth century, Leicester House was transformed to a since-lost museum. Among its curiosities was a stuffed Hippopotamus and objects brought to Britain by the colonist Captain James Cook.

Diocese of London United Kingdom In 1791, workmen at the Tower of London discovered extensive historical graffiti left by prisoners - including the ill-fated Lady Jane Grey - centuries earlier.

Diocese of London United Kingdom Although Wellclose Square Prison is now lost to history, the wooden walls of one of the cells survive at the Museum of London and are covered in graffiti documenting the distant voices of the incarcerated in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

London United Kingdom In 1786, the bon ton flocked to Privy Gardens in Whitehall to attend a vast auction of curiosities, art works and antiquities owned by the deceased Duchess of Portland

London United Kingdom This viewpoint explains why Nelson Mandela has a bust on the South Bank and the large-scale protests and festivals held in his name.

London United Kingdom The City of London Anti-Apartheid Group organised a continuous picket outside of South Africa's embassy in the late 1980s and ruffled the feathers of both the police and the national Anti Apartheid Movement.

Ealing Broadway United Kingdom In the late 1970s a group of squatters in Notting Hill declared their independence from the United Kingdom and called upon UN peacekeepers to protect them from eviction. Hear their story here.