The 20th Century and Beyond

Port of London authority building

1914        1st World War starts.

1915-18  City suffers bomb damage, initially from Zeppelin airships and later from bomber aircraft.

1922        New Port of London Authority building completed on Trinity Square (pictured above).

1928        Daily Telegraph building opened.

1931        Unilever House and Daily Express building completed.

1939        World War II begins.

1940        First bomb dropped in the city lands on Fore Street.

1940-45  Most of the city totally destroyed or damaged beyond repair.

1954        Archeologists discover the Roman Temple of Mithras near Walbrook.

1959        Mermaid Theatre opens, the first since Shakespearian times.

1960’s     Most Livery Company Halls are rebuilt after the war.

1965        Funeral of Sir Winston Churchill takes place at St.Paul’s Cathedral.

1968        John Rennie’s London bridge (1831) sold, dismantled, and re-erected in Arizona,U.S.A

1971        Queenhithe Dock (Saxon) is the last in the city to be demolished.

1975        Moorgate tube disaster,40 people killed.

1976        Museum of London opened.

1981        Royal Wedding at St.Pauls Cathedral, H.R.H Prince of Wales and Lady Diana Spencer.

                 Europe’s tallest building yet opened by the Queen, Nat West Tower is 600ft high.

1982        Billingsgate Fish Market moves to the Isle of Dogs.

                 Barbican Centre opened.

1983        First Lady Mayor, Lady Donaldson.

1986        New Lloyd’s building opened, No.1 Lime Street is designed by Sir Richard Rogers.

                  Big Bang, Londons financial markets deregulated.

1987/8     Fleet Street’s Newspapers begin moving production to Docklands.

1988        Londons Roman Amphitheatre uncovered under Guildhall Yard.

1990        Ludgate Hill railway arch removed.

1991        Last trades made on the Stock Exchange trading floor (31st January).

1992        I.R.A bomb the Baltic Exchange.

1994        Swiss-Re building (a.k.a The Gherkin) opened.

2004        Stock Exchange moves to Paternoster Square.

                  Temple Bar returns to the city after 126 years away.

2010        One New Change, the first modern Shopping Centre in the city.

2011        Heron Tower completed, the tallest in the city yet.

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