The history of London

The city of London was founded in the year 50 by the Roman emperor Claudius, the city was named Londium back then. It was founded on the northern bank of the river Theems. It was the capital of the Roman province Britannia. After it was destroyed in the year 61 it became one of the biggest cities of the Roman empire. After the leave of the Romans the city declined. In the 9th century the city got big again by Alfred the Great. The Norman King Willem the First of Britain saw a big city and he maked a threat with it. He stated London as the capital of his Kingdom. After a couple of centuries the city became so big that none of the officials of the king could go inside London and the king only after permission. The city was ruled by merchants.

In 1665 the was a big epidemic of plague that killed 75.000 people. If that wasn’t bad enough the Great Fire of London destroyed 3/5th of the city in 1666. The fire started in Pudding Lane, in the house of Thomas Farrinor of Farriner, he was the baker of Charles II of England. According to many writers, the fire started because Thomas forgot to put out his oven. Thomas woke up at 1 ‘o clock and escaped with his family through the attic window. His maid suffered fear of heights and she fell back into the attic. She became the first victim of the Great fire. In an hour the mayor looked at the fire and he thought it was only a little fire, he said: ‘’A woman might piss it out’’ and he went back to sleep again. There was only one problem: almost all of the building were made out of wood en straw. The summer was very hot and dry and so were the buildings. So the fire could spread very quickly.

In Londons long history there were some legendary persons. One of them is Jack the Ripper, he was a person who killed some prostitutes in the 19th century. Who he was is still a riddle. 5 of the people who were killed by him were: Mary Ann Nicholson, her throat was cutted and she had some stabs through her stomach and you could see her ribs. Annie Chapman was killed and all of her organs in her abdomen were removed. Some people say Jack the Ripper was a doctor. Elizabeth Stride was also killed. Kate Kelly was murdered, she lost her left kidney and her womb. Her both cheeks were sliced. In a letter that Jack wrote he stated that he ate her kidney and that it was absolutely delicious. Mary Jane Kelly was the last that was killed, she had no heart anymore and she had big mutilations.

Another famous person is Guy Fawkes, he was a British soldier. He was born in York and he became famous because he wanted to kill the British Reformed King Jacob I. He was caught in the basement, he had fuses, matches and gunpowder with him. He later was drawn an quarter. Every day on November 5th Guy Fawkes day is celebrated. On that day, children have Guy Fawkes dolls and they burn them. There is also a lot of fireworks.

A person who was only a legend is Sweeney Todd, there is no proof he was real but I think is story is cool. In the original version of the tale he is a barber who murders wealthy customers by slitting their throats then pulling a lever while they are in his barber's chair which, unknown to them, is fixed to a revolving trap-door, making them fall backward into the basement. But in many adaptations of the tale, the murdering process is reversed, meaning that he pulls a lever causing them to drop into the basement and then slits their throats. After Todd has robbed his dead victims of their goods, Mrs. Lovett, his partner in crime (in some later versions, his friend who wants to become his lover), assists him in disposing of the bodies by having their flesh baked into meat pies, and selling them to the unsuspecting customers of her pie shop. Todd's barber shop is situated at 186 Fleet Street, London, next to St. Dunstan's church, and is connected to Mrs. Lovett's pie shop in nearby Bell Yard by means of an underground passage.