Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
adoring throngs to Westminster Abbey. For her Diamond Jubilee (1897), she did
the same at St. Paul's Cathedral. Cities, lakes, and military medals were named for
her. When she passed away in 1901, it was literally the end of an era.
1850
Alfred, Lord Tennyson is appointed poet laureate.
1851
With Britain at the peak of prosperity from its worldwide colonial empire,
London—population one million—hosts a Great Exhibition in Hyde Park,
trumpeting the latest triumphs of science and technology.
1859
Charles Darwin publishes
On the Origin of the Species,
articulating the
principles of natural selection and evolution.
1863
First Underground (Tube) line is built.
1880-1914
Sherlock Holmes—a fictional detective living at 221b Baker Street—solves
fictional crimes that the real Scotland Yard can't.
1888
Jack the Ripper, a serial killer of prostitutes, terrorizes east London; his (or
her) identity remains unknown.
Related Sights
• Big Ben and Halls of Parliament
• Buckingham Palace, the Mall, and Hyde Park
• The Tube
• J. M. W. Turner paintings, Tate Britain
• Writers' manuscripts in the British Library
• Poets' Corner in Westminster Abbey
• Kensington Palace (Victoria Revealed exhibit)
• Sherlock Holmes Museum
• London's East End tenements (reminiscent of the Jack the Ripper days)
Two world wars whittle Britain down from a world empire to an island chain struggling to
compete in a global economy. The German Blitz in World War II levels eastern London.
Colonies rebel and gain their independence, then flood London with immigrants. Long-
time residents flee to London's suburbs, and commute in on the Tube.
