Timeline of London (21st century)

Main article: Timeline of London

The following is a timeline of the history of London in the 21st century, the capital of England and the United Kingdom.

Timeline

City skyline (2015)

• 2000
  • 1 January: The Millennium Dome opens on Greenwich Peninsula.
  • 25 February: Murder of Victoria Climbié (aged 8) after torture and neglect by her guardians, her aunt Marie Therese Kouao and Kouao's partner Carl Manning; Brent and Haringey social services departments will be severely criticised for their shortcomings in the case.
  • 8 March: Peckham Library opens; awarded 2000 Stirling Prize.
  • 9 March: London Eye ferris wheel opens to public.
  • 22 April: Big Number Change: STD codes 0171 and 0181 codes are replaced with 020 for the whole London telephone area.
  • 1 May: May Day riot in central London by anti-capitalist protestors. The statue of Winston Churchill in Parliament Square, and the Cenotaph in Whitehall are daubed with graffiti.
  • 4 May: 2000 London mayoral election: Ken Livingstone, standing as an independent, becomes the first directly-elected Mayor of London.
  • 11 May: Croydon Tramlink opens to public, the first trams in London since 1952.
  • 12 May: Tate Modern art museum opens in the former Bankside Power Station.
  • 10 June: Millennium Bridge opens to pedestrians; it is closed after a few days for adaptation due to synchronous lateral excitation.
  • 3 July: Directly elected Greater London Authority formed with Ken Livingstone as Mayor of London. Transport for London created as a functional body of the GLA taking over functions of London Regional Transport, the Public Carriage Office, traffic management and London River Services.
  • 20 July: Rioting breaks out in Brixton following the fatal shooting of Derek Bennett, a 29-year-old black man, by armed police in the area. 27 people are arrested and three police officers are injured.
  • 7 November: Millennium Dome raid: The theft of £350 million worth of diamonds from the Millennium Dome is foiled by police.
  • 27 November: Damilola Taylor, a 10-year-old schoolboy originally from Nigeria, is stabbed to death on his way home from school in Peckham.
  • ExCeL London exhibition centre opens at Royal Victoria Dock.
• 2001
  • 4 March: 2001 BBC bombing: A Real Irish Republican Army car bomb explodes outside BBC Television Centre in White City.
  • 3 August: 2001 Ealing bombing: A Real IRA car bomb explodes in Ealing Broadway.
  • 21 September: Torso of a 7-year old Nigerian boy, "Adam", believed to be the victim of ritual sacrifice, found in the Thames.
  • 8 November: Handel House Museum in Brook Street opens.
  • Citigroup Centre completed.
  • Conservatoire for Dance and Drama, a national higher education institution, is established, the founding affiliates being the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and the London Contemporary Dance School.
• 2002
  • 2 January: Royal National Lifeboat Institution stations inland rescue boats on the Thames in London, at Teddington, Chiswick and Tower.
  • May: First Idea Store community centre opens in Bow.
  • June: Golden Jubilee of Elizabeth II.
  • July: City Hall, headquarters of the Greater London Authority designed by Norman Foster, opens beside the Thames in Southwark.
  • 3 July: Decapitation of a statue of Margaret Thatcher: a man decapitates a statue of the former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher on display at Guildhall Art Gallery.
  • 1 August: London Metropolitan University formed by merger of London Guildhall University and the University of North London.
  • 2 September: 8 Canada Square begins to be used by HSBC staff.
  • BedZED (Beddington Zero Energy Development), the country's first large-scale zero energy housing development, of 99 homes in Beddington, designed by Bill Dunster, is completed.
  • The last vehicle, a Ford Fiesta, leaves the Ford Dagenham production line.
• 2003
  • 5 February: Arrests in alleged Wood Green ricin plot.
  • 15 February 2003 anti-war protest: More than 2 million people demonstrate against the Iraq War, the largest demonstration in British history.
  • 17 February: Congestion Charge introduced.
  • 30 March: Gurdwara Sri Guru Singh Sabha Sikh temple opens in Southall.
  • May: Transport for London sets up a Directorate of Traffic Operations to run road traffic management (including London Streets Traffic Control Centre), some functions being transferred from the Metropolitan Police.
  • 31 May: Post Office Railway last carries mail.
  • 10 August: Hottest day recorded in London, 38.1 °C (100.6 °F) in Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
  • 3 October: Baitul Futuh Mosque, Britain's largest, inaugurated at Morden.
• 2004
  • 10 February: London Plan published.
  • 28 April: Landmark Swiss Re office building ("The Gherkin") at 30 St Mary Axe in the City, designed by Norman Foster, opens.
  • May: BBC Media Village opens in White City.
  • 11 May: University of the Arts London formed from the London Institute.
  • July: London Stock Exchange moves to Paternoster Square.
  • September: Daniel Gonzalez spree killings.
  • October: South London gangs Ghetto Boys and Peckham Boys have a shootout outside the Urban Music Awards in the Barbican Centre.
  • 10 November: Temple Bar reinstalled in central London at Paternoster Square.
  • Pride London established.
• 2005
  • 6 July: Successful London bid for the 2012 Summer Olympics is announced.
  • 7 July 2005 London bombings: 56 killed in four suicide bombings on London Transport.
  • 21 July: Four attempted bombings on London Transport.
  • 22 July: Death of Jean Charles de Menezes, mistaken for a terrorist suspect, shot dead by Metropolitan Police officers on a train at Stockwell tube station.
  • Summer: Guinness closes its Park Royal brewery.
  • 9 December: Last AEC Routemaster buses in regular service run in London.
  • Cathedral of the Dormition of the Most Holy Mother of God and Holy Royal Martyrs (Russian Orthodox Diocese of Great Britain and Ireland) in Chiswick fully consecrated.
• 2006
  • 20 January: River Thames whale: a whale is discovered swimming in the Thames in London.
  • 25 September: Young's Ram Brewery in Wandsworth closes.
  • By October: The Daily Telegraph moves its offices from Canada Place in Canary Wharf (Docklands) to Victoria Plaza near Victoria station in central London.
  • 7 December: London Tornado of 2006.
  • Donnybrook Quarter of the East End is completed by Peter Barber Architects.
  • Barkers of Kensington is closed down by its owners, House of Fraser.
• 2007
  • 9 March: Rebuilt Wembley Stadium opens.
  • 29 June: Two car bombs are uncovered and defused in central London.
  • 11 November: London Overground rail franchise begins operation of North London line.
• 2008
  • 16 January: Rose Theatre, Kingston, opens.
  • 28 March: Heathrow Terminal 5 opens at the airport.
  • April: Willis Building opens in the City.
  • 4 May: 2008 London mayoral election: Boris Johnson (Conservative) defeats Ken Livingstone to become Mayor of London.
  • 30 October: Westfield London shopping centre opens at White City.
• 2009
  • 10 January: The DLR London City Airport branch begins operation.
  • 2 February: February 2009 United Kingdom snowstorm: Transport for London suspends all London buses.
  • March: King's Health Partners formed as an academic health science centre.
  • 1–2 April: 2009 G-20 London summit protests.
  • 2 April: City hosts 2009 G-20 London summit.
  • 3 July: Lakanal House fire: Fire in a 14-storey block of flats in Camberwell (Borough of Southwark) causes 6 fatalities.
  • 17 September: Brixton pound local currency launched.
  • 12 October: The Evening Standard becomes a free newspaper in central London.
  • 9 November: Transport for London officially opens new Surface Transport and Traffic Operations Centre (STTOC, at Palestra, Blackfriars Road), bringing together London Streets Traffic Control Centre (LSTCC), London Buses Command and Control Centre (CentreComm), and the Metropolitan Police Traffic Operation Control Centre (MetroComm).
• 2010
  • April: HM Prison Isis completed as a young offenders' institution adjacent to HMP Belmarsh in Thamesmead.
  • June: The Strata ("The Razor"), a 148-metre, 43-storey, 408-flat skyscraper at Elephant and Castle in Southwark, that incorporates wind turbines into its structure, is completed.
  • 30 July: Barclays Cycle Hire scheme launched by Boris Johnson, Mayor of London.
  • September: Evelyn Grace Academy, a school in Brixton designed by Zaha Hadid, opens; awarded 2011 Stirling Prize.
• 2011
  • 26 March: 2011 London anti-cuts protest.
  • 27 March: United Kingdom Census 2011. 22.1% of the London population (1.73M) have a tongue other than English as their first language, Polish being the most widely spoken.
  • 29 April: Wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton at Westminster Abbey.
  • 29 May: Parish church of St John Baptist at Croydon raised to the honorific status of Croydon Minster.
  • 4 August: Death of Mark Duggan, shot by police in Tottenham Hale, triggers 2011 England riots.
  • 13 September: Westfield Stratford City shopping mall opens at Stratford.
  • 15 October: Occupy London begins.
  • 9 December: Circle line (London Underground) trains cease to run in a complete circle.
  • Heron Tower (110 Bishopsgate) completed.
  • Georgian Orthodox Cathedral Church of the Nativity of Our Lord established in former Agapemonite Ark of the Covenant (later Church of the Good Shepherd) in Upper Clapton.
• 2012
  • 3 February: London Borough of Greenwich becomes Royal Borough of Greenwich, marking the Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II.
  • 27 February: Transport for London's crew-operated "New Routemaster" hybrid double-decker buses begin to enter public service.
  • 30 March: HM Prison Thameside opens.
  • 3 May: 2012 London Assembly election and 2012 London mayoral election held.
  • 3 June: Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant occurs.
  • 28 June: Emirates Air Line (cable car) opens across Thames between Royal Docks and Greenwich Peninsula.
  • 5 July: The Shard building inaugurated.
  • 27 July: 2012 Summer Olympics begin, based at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in Stratford.
  • 29 August: 2012 Summer Paralympics begin.
  • 10 September: Our Greatest Team Parade held.
  • September: New College of the Humanities, a private university-level institution based in Bedford Square, begins tuition.
  • Billingsgate Fish Market porters lose their traditional monopoly.
• 2013
  • March: Regent's College (based in Regent's Park) is granted permission to become Regent's University London, a private charitable institution.
  • 22 May: Murder of Lee Rigby, a soldier, by two Islamic extremists in Woolwich.
  • 25 October: Lambeth slavery case: 3 women believed to have been held as slaves for the last three decades are rescued from a residence.
  • 28 October: St. Jude storm: two people are killed in Hounslow.
  • 13 November: Groundbreaking for new Embassy of the United States in London at Nine Elms.
• 2014
  • 11 February: Worshipful Company of Arts Scholars (recognised without livery in 2000) is constituted as a livery company of the City.
  • April–August: 20 Fenchurch Street (the "Walkie-talkie" office block), designed by Rafael Viñoly, completed and occupied in the City.
  • July: 122 Leadenhall Street (the "Cheesegrater" office block) opens in the City.
  • 17 July–11 November: Installation art Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red in the moat of the Tower of London.
  • Burntwood School, Wandsworth, designed by Allford Hall Monaghan Morris, completed; awarded 2015 Stirling Prize.
  • Cat Emporium (cat café) in business.
• 2015
  • January: Earls Court Exhibition Centre dismantling begins.
  • 2 February: London's population hits a record high of 8.6m and is forecast to reach 11m by 2050.
  • 1 April: Electrical fire under Kingsway pavement.
  • 2 April: Hatton Garden safe deposit burglary begins.
• 2016
  • 28 January: Lee Tunnel, the first section of the Thames Tideway Scheme, opens.
  • 23 February: Crossrail renamed Elizabeth line.
  • 9 May: 2016 London mayoral election: Sadiq Khan (Labour) elected Mayor of London.
  • 17 June: Tate Modern Switch House (art gallery extension, named the Blavatnik Building in 2017) on Bankside, designed by Herzog & de Meuron, opens.
  • 1 November: Metropolitan Police Service returns its headquarters from New Scotland Yard in Broadway to the Curtis Green Building on the original Scotland Yard site.
  • 24 November
    • Design Museum reopens in former Commonwealth Institute building in Kensington.
    • St. Thomas' Cathedral, Acton opens as Britain's first Syriac Orthodox cathedral in the former St Saviour's Centre for the Deaf.
• 2017
  • 22 February: Cressida Dick is appointed as first woman Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis.
  • 22 March: 2017 Westminster attack: A lone terrorist causes fatal injuries to four pedestrians in a vehicle-ramming attack on Westminster Bridge and fatally stabs a policeman on duty in New Palace Yard before being shot dead by police.
  • 3 June: 2017 London Bridge attack: Three terrorists cause fatal injuries to eight people on London Bridge and in Borough Market in a vehicle-ramming attack and stabbings before being shot dead by police.
  • 14 June: Grenfell Tower fire: Fire engulfs a 24-storey block of flats in North Kensington with 71 fatalities eventually officially confirmed.
  • 19 June: Finsbury Park attack: Vehicle-ramming attack on Muslims leaving Tarawih prayer meetings in Finsbury Park; there is one fatality at the scene.
  • 15 September: Parsons Green bombing.
  • 21 November: First new purpose-built Anglican parish church in London for 40 years opens, St Francis at the Engine Room in Tottenham Hale, intended as the first of 100 new churches in the diocese.
  • 18 December:Sarah Mullally is appointed as first woman Bishop of London, who is enthroned 12 May 2018 in St Paul's Cathedral.
• 2018
  • 7 February: Phase 1 of the National Grid's London Power Tunnels are complete, with 32 km of tunnels linking electricity substations in Wimbledon and Hackney, are officially opened.
  • May: Ravensbourne University London granted full university status.
  • 26 July: The highest temperature is recorded at 33.9 °C (93 °F) on this day during the May–August 2018 British Isles heat wave.
  • November: Extinction Rebellion protests take place across central London.
  • 24 December: The District line celebrates 150 years of service since first opening as the District Railway.
• 2019
  • 2 April: Plans for London's newest skyscraper, The Tulip, are approved, with work starting as early as 2020 and a scheduled completion date of 2025.
  • 3 April: The new Tottenham Hotspur Stadium opens.
  • 15–26 April: Extinction Rebellion protests across London cause disruption around major tourist areas, including Piccadilly Circus, the Houses of Parliament, Marble Arch and the Stock Exchange.
  • 15 July: The Tulip skyscraper plans are rejected by Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London.
  • 10 August: A major power cut hits London and the South-East, with the major railway termini being greatly affected with many severe delays and cancellations.
• 2020
  • 23 March: The Coronavirus sends London and the rest of the UK into a nationwide lockdown as ordered by Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

See also

• Timeline of London
• History of London

Bibliography

See also lists of works about London by period: Tudor London, Stuart London, 18th century, 19th century, 1900–1939, 1960s

published in the 19th century

• Elmes, James (1831). Topographical Dictionary of London and Its Environs. London: Whittaker, Treacher and Arnot.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link)
• Thomas Allen; Thomas Wright (1839). "Account of the Companies of the City of London, Alphabetically Arranged". History and Antiquities of London, Westminster, Southwark, and Parts Adjacent. Vol. 2. London. pp. 376–429. hdl:2027/hvd.hwh1uq.
• "London". Penny Cyclopaedia. Vol. 14. London: Charles Knight. 1839. pp. 109–129. hdl:2027/ucm.5319406728.
• Charles Knight, ed. (1844), "Metropolitan Boroughs", London, vol. 6, London: C. Knight & Co. {{citation}}: External link in |chapterurl= (help); Unknown parameter |chapterurl= ignored (|chapter-url= suggested) (help)
• Peter Cunningham (1850), "Chronology of London Occurrences", Handbook of London (2nd ed.), London: John Murray, OCLC 4773921 {{citation}}: External link in |chapterurl= (help); Unknown parameter |chapterurl= ignored (|chapter-url= suggested) (help)
• J. Willoughby Rosse (1859). "London". Index of Dates ... Facts in the Chronology and History of the World. London: H.G. Bohn. hdl:2027/hvd.32044098621048 – via Hathi Trust.
• Timbs, John (1866), Club Life of London, London: J. Bentley, OL 7098926M{{citation}}: CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link)
• George Henry Townsend (1867), "London", A Manual of Dates (2nd ed.), London: Frederick Warne & Co., pp. 587–590 {{citation}}: External link in |chapterurl= (help); Unknown parameter |chapterurl= ignored (|chapter-url= suggested) (help)
• William Henry Overall, ed. (1870), "London", Dictionary of Chronology, London: William Tegg, OCLC 2613202 {{citation}}: External link in |chapterurl= (help); Unknown parameter |chapterurl= ignored (|chapter-url= suggested) (help)
• Charles Dickens (1882), "Historical Events", Dickens's Dictionary of London, London: Macmillan & Co. {{citation}}: External link in |chapterurl= (help); Unknown parameter |chapterurl= ignored (|chapter-url= suggested) (help)
• John and Robert Maxwell. "Memorable Dates". Concise Guide to London. London. {{cite book}}: External link in |chapterurl= (help); Unknown parameter |chapterurl= ignored (|chapter-url= suggested) (help) circa 1882
• R. Price-Williams (1885), "Population of London, 1801–81", Journal of the Statistical Society, vol. 48, pp. 349–432, hdl:2027/uc1.b4148209
• Mrs. Basil Holmes (1896). "Burial-Grounds within the Metropolitan Area". London Burial Grounds. Macmillan. {{cite book}}: External link in |chapterurl= (help); Unknown parameter |chapterurl= ignored (|chapter-url= suggested) (help)

published in the 20th century

• Henry Barton Baker (1904), "Chronological List of the London Theatres", History of the London Stage and its Famous Players (1576–1903), London: Routledge {{citation}}: External link in |chapterurl= (help); Unknown parameter |chapterurl= ignored (|chapter-url= suggested) (help)
• Robert Donald, ed. (1907). "London". Municipal Year Book of the United Kingdom for 1907. London: Edward Lloyd. pp. 5–47. {{cite book}}: External link in |chapterurl= (help); Unknown parameter |chapterurl= ignored (|chapter-url= suggested) (help)
• Francis Miltoun (1908). "Brief Chronology". Dickens' London. Boston: L.C. Page & Company. {{cite book}}: External link in |chapterurl= (help); Unknown parameter |chapterurl= ignored (|chapter-url= suggested) (help)
• "London: Government", Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.), New York, 1910, OCLC 14782424 – via Internet Archive {{citation}}: External link in |chapterurl= (help); Unknown parameter |chapterurl= ignored (|chapter-url= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
• "London: Population, Public Health, &c.", Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.), New York, 1910, OCLC 14782424 {{citation}}: External link in |chapterurl= (help); Unknown parameter |chapterurl= ignored (|chapter-url= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
• "Westminster", Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.), New York, 1910, OCLC 14782424 {{citation}}: External link in |chapterurl= (help); Unknown parameter |chapterurl= ignored (|chapter-url= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
• Benjamin Vincent (1910), "London", Haydn's Dictionary of Dates (25th ed.), London: Ward, Lock & Co., pp. 839–848 {{citation}}: External link in |chapterurl= (help); Unknown parameter |chapterurl= ignored (|chapter-url= suggested) (help)
• Walter H. Godfrey (1911), "List of Buildings on ... Map 1: The City of London and Southwark", History of Architecture in London, London: B.T. Batsford {{citation}}: External link in |chapterurl= (help); Unknown parameter |chapterurl= ignored (|chapter-url= suggested) (help)
• Cook's Handbook to London. London: Thos. Cook & Son. 1921.
• George F.E. Rudé (1971). Hanoverian London, 1714–1808. History of London. University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-01778-8.
• Nicholson, Louise (1998). "London Chronology". London. Abbeville Press. ISBN 978-0-7112-1187-2. {{cite book}}: External link in |chapterurl= (help); Unknown parameter |chapterurl= ignored (|chapter-url= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link)

published in the 21st century

• John Richardson (2000). The Annals of London: A Year-by-year Record of a Thousand Years of History. University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-22795-8.
• Leonard Schwarz (2000). "London, 1700–1840". In Peter Clark (ed.). Cambridge Urban History of Britain. Vol. 2. Cambridge University Press. p. 641+. ISBN 978-0-521-43141-5. {{cite book}}: External link in |chapterurl= (help); Unknown parameter |chapterurl= ignored (|chapter-url= suggested) (help)
• Ackroyd, Peter (2001), "Chronology", London: the Biography, Nan A. Talese, ISBN 9780385497701{{citation}}: CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link)
• Erika Diane Rappaport (2001). Shopping for Pleasure: Women in the Making of London's West End. Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-04476-7.
• A.N. Wilson (2004). "Chronology of London History". London: A History. Modern Library. p. 193+. ISBN 978-0-307-42665-9. {{cite book}}: External link in |chapterurl= (help); Unknown parameter |chapterurl= ignored (|chapter-url= suggested) (help)
• Ben Weinreb; et al. (2008). The London Encyclopaedia (3rd ed.). Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-230-73878-2.
• Michelin; Lifestyle, Michelin Travel (2012). "20C to Today (timeline)". London. Michelin Green Guide. ISBN 978-2-06-718238-7. {{cite book}}: External link in |chapterurl= (help); Unknown parameter |chapterurl= ignored (|chapter-url= suggested) (help)
• Jonathan Conlin (2013). Tales of Two Cities: Paris, London and the Birth of the Modern City. Counterpoint LLC. ISBN 978-1-61902-225-6.
• Marc Matera (2015). Black London: The Imperial Metropolis and Decolonization in the Twentieth Century. University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-95990-3.

External links

• British History Online. London
• "London and its Hinterlands: Life in London, 1674–1913". Old Bailey Proceedings Online. University of Sheffield.
• "Timeline". Exploring 20th Century London. Renaissance London.
• "London", Historical Directories, UK: University of Leicester.
• Europeana. Items related to London, various dates.
• Digital Public Library of America. Items related to London, various dates
• "Dates and Events – Chronology". Dictionary of Victorian London. Stoke Newington: Lee Jackson.