Until 1976, what were London taxis required by law to have in their cab at all times?
Answer: A bale of hay. Harking back to the era of horse drawn-carriages, the London Hackney Carriage Act 1831 stipulated that such a bale was to be kept in the boot to feed the horses. The clause was only removed 145 years later.
Source: The Strange Laws of Old England by Nigel Cawthorne
1378 – Cardinal Robert of Geneva, named by some contemporaries as the ‘Butcher of Cesena’, is elected as Avignon Pope Clement VII, thereby commencing the Papal schism.
1860 – The future King Edward VII of the United Kingdom begins the first visit to North America by a Prince of Wales. Known as Bertie to his family, outside the Royal circle he will acquire the nickname of ‘Dirty Bertie’ and as king ‘Edward the Caresses’.
1893 – Engineer Charles Duryea and his brother road-test the first American-made gasoline-powered automobile.
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A short, sharp hit of history in video format. Acclaimed Irish playwright and novelist Oscar Wilde was the toast of London society in the 1890s until things came decidedly unstuck through an association with a young British aristocrat, Lord Alfred Douglas, known as ‘Bosie’.
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Last week’s answer:
Augustus (63 BCE – 14 CE)
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“There is dignity in serenity, there is dignity in clenched teeth and flashing eyes.”
Yukio Mishima, Japanese poet, author and nationalist.
German composer. His music is some of the most performed of the classical music repertoire. Remarkably, he continued to compose music despite his gradual loss of hearing.
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