ON THIS DAY in 1743 English bare-knuckle fighter Jack Broughton began staging boxing exhibitions in an ampitheatre on Hanway Rd, near Oxford Street. It eventually became the largest of its kind, making him the foremost name in the sport. He cemented this status by drawing up seven rules, which became universally applied before the Marquis […]
THE MAN BOOKER PRIZE celebrates outstanding works of fiction written in the English language and published in the UK. The recently published longlist of 13 books emerged from 144 hopefuls who submitted from 1 October 2016 to 30 September 2017. The eventual winner of the £50,000 prize will join the 52 other notable authors who […]
English Romantic poet John Keats lived a short life that was in many ways the archetypal tragic and poverty-stricken existence we expect of such literary figures. What still exists is his body of work and, of course, Keats House, his home in Hampstead. Formerly Wentworth Place, this Regency villa has been a museum since 1925 […]
The first Cat café originated somewhere in Asia. The western world was quick to catch up. While there are a handful of cat cafes and some more mushrooming in the UK, Lady Dinah’s Cat Emporium is the first of its kind in London. Opened in 2014 amidst much curiosity and hype, like all other cafes […]
Summer time is always a trigger for London buskers of all backgrounds and degrees of talent trying their hands before the crowds. One-man bands, magicians, jugglers, break dancers, shamrock yodas dressed in green garb on St Patrick’s Day, you name it the London crowds have probably seen it. Covent Garden is the unofficial busking centre […]
Where bronze statues of fictitious characters such as Sherlock Holmes take pride of place alongside those of historic British kings, queens and heads of state. The streets are the unofficial exhibition space for the public art in London Town. So if you don’t like galleries or museums you’ve no excuse!
IT WAS on this day in 2012 that the 310 metre tall Shard Tower, located on the South Bank of the Thames, was officially inaugurated as one of Europe’s tallest buildings. It was opened by Prince Andrew and the Qatari Prime Minister, Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassim Bin Jabor Al Thani, whose nation provided most of […]
Painting Dustman from Mile End Stanislav Geissler has just celebrated having his sculpture/painting Alexander McQueen v David Bowie-The Last Dress Up as the centrepiece at the recent Salon des Refuses exhibition organised by Happenstance Framing at the Candid Arts Trust, Islington. What’s Hot London? readers can take a peek in his studios to see his […]
Few can argue that British boxing history sprung from within earshot of the Bow Bells as records show that East London has produced more champions across all weights whether professional or amateur than any other place in the country. This history runs deep, as it was Bethnal Green’s bare knuckle world champion boxer Daniel Mendoza […]
Strangely enough, many people still believe Captain Bligh and Fletcher Christian to be fictional characters because of the romantic and swashbuckling nature of their exploits on the High Seas and the escape to the idyllic islands of Tahiti. It’s a tale amazing enough to grace any worthy book of literature and, indeed, movie of which […]
Hillary Clinton Graffiti/Painting Shoreditch By Street Artist Pegasus
