London

==History==
{{main|History of London}}
{{For timeline|Timeline of London}}

===Prehistory===
In 1993, remains of a [[Bronze Age]] bridge were found on the south foreshore upstream from [[Vauxhall Bridge]].<ref name="Denison">{{Cite web |title=First 'London Bridge' in River Thames at Vauxhall |date=27 May 2015 |url=https://exploring-london.com/tag/vauxhall-bridge/ |access-date=18 December 2023 }}</ref> Two of the timbers were [[Radiocarbon dating|radiocarbon dated]] to 1750–1285 BC.<ref name="Denison"/> In 2010, foundations of a large timber structure, dated to 4800–4500 BC,<ref>{{Cite web |title=London's Oldest Prehistoric Structure |url=http://www.bajrfed.co.uk/bajrpress/londons-oldest-prehistoric-structure/ |publisher=BAJR |access-date=19 August 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180707053946/http://www.bajrfed.co.uk/bajrpress/londons-oldest-prehistoric-structure/ |archive-date=7 July 2018 |url-status=live |date=3 April 2015}}</ref> were found on the Thames's south foreshore downstream from Vauxhall Bridge.<ref name="Milne">{{Cite web |last=Milne |first=Gustav |title=London's Oldest Foreshore Structure! |url=http://www.thamesdiscovery.org/frog-blog/london-s-oldest-find-discovered-at-vauxhall |website=Frog Blog |publisher=Thames Discovery Programme |access-date=15 April 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110430002236/http://www.thamesdiscovery.org/frog-blog/london-s-oldest-find-discovered-at-vauxhall |archive-date=30 April 2011 |url-status=live}}</ref> Both structures are on the south bank of the Thames, where the now-underground [[River Effra]] flows into the Thames.<ref name="Milne"/>

===Roman London===
{{main|Londinium}}
Despite the evidence of scattered Brythonic settlements in the area, the first major settlement was founded by the [[Ancient Rome|Romans]] around 47 AD,<ref name="auto1"/> about four years after their invasion of 43 AD.<ref name="roman">{{Cite book |title=Roman London |last=Perring |first=Dominic |year=1991 |publisher=Routledge |location=London |isbn=978-0-203-23133-3 |page=1}}</ref> This only lasted until about 61 AD, when the [[Iceni]] tribe led by [[Boudica|Queen Boudica]] stormed it and burnt it to the ground.<ref name="london_010">{{Cite web |title=British History Timeline - Roman Britain |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/timeline/romanbritain_timeline_noflash.shtml |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110430191143/http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/timeline/romanbritain_timeline_noflash.shtml |archive-date=30 April 2011 |access-date=7 June 2008 |publisher=[[BBC]]}}</ref>

The next planned incarnation of [[Londinium]] prospered, superseding [[Colchester]] as the principal city of the [[Roman Britain|Roman province]] of [[Britannia]] in 100. At its height in the 2nd century, Roman London had a population of about 60,000.<ref>{{Cite book |title=London Civic Theatre: City Drama and Pageantry from Roman Times to 1558 |first=Anne |last=Lancashire |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QajvxgbH59QC&pg=PA19 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2002 |page=19 |isbn=978-0-521-63278-2}}</ref>

===Anglo-Saxon and Viking-period London===

[[File:Reconstruction_drawing_of_Londinium_in_120_AD,_Museum_of_London_(34881481351).jpg|thumb|left|Reconstruction drawing of [[Londinium]] in 120 AD]]
With the early 5th-century collapse of Roman rule, the walled city of [[Londinium]] was effectively abandoned, although [[Roman civilisation]] continued around [[St Martin-in-the-Fields]] until about 450.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The last days of Londinium |url=http://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/English/EventsExhibitions/Past/MissingLink/Themes/TML_themes_Londinium.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090108092449/http://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/English/EventsExhibitions/Past/MissingLink/Themes/TML_themes_Londinium.htm |archive-date=8 January 2009 |access-date=31 March 2013 |website=[[Museum of London]]}}</ref> From about 500, an [[Anglo-Saxon]] settlement known as [[Anglo-Saxon London|Lundenwic]] developed slightly west of the old Roman city.<ref name=london_011>{{Cite web |url=http://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/English/EventsExhibitions/Past/MissingLink/Themes/TML_themes_Lundenwic.htm |title=The early years of Lundenwic |publisher=The [[Museum of London]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080610043903/http://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/English/EventsExhibitions/Past/MissingLink/Themes/TML_themes_Lundenwic.htm |archive-date=10 June 2008 |url-status=dead}}</ref> By about 680 the city had become a major port again, but there is little evidence of large-scale production. From the 820s repeated [[Viking]] assaults brought decline. Three are recorded; those in 851 and 886 succeeded, while the last, in 994, was rebuffed.<ref name="Viking Attacks">{{Cite web |url=https://web.cn.edu/kwheeler/viking_attacklist.html?showall=1 |title=Viking Attacks |access-date=19 January 2016 |last1=Wheeler |first1=Kip |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160101055729/https://web.cn.edu/kwheeler/viking_attacklist.html?showall=1 |archive-date=1 January 2016 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

The [[Vikings]] applied [[Danelaw]] over much of eastern and northern England, its boundary running roughly from London to [[Chester]] as an area of political and geographical control imposed by the [[Vikings|Viking]] incursions formally agreed by the [[Danes|Danish]] [[warlord]], [[Guthrum]] and the [[Kingdom of the West Saxons|West Saxon]] king [[Alfred the Great]] in 886. The ''[[Anglo-Saxon Chronicle]]'' records that Alfred "refounded" London in 886. Archaeological research shows this involved abandonment of [[Lundenwic]] and a revival of life and trade within the old Roman walls. London then grew slowly until a dramatic increase in about 950.<ref name="blackwell">{{Cite encyclopedia |last=Vince |first=Alan |year=2001 |title=London |editor=Lapidge, Michael |editor2=Blair, John |editor3=Keynes, Simon |editor4=Scragg, Donald |encyclopedia=The Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Anglo-Saxon England |publisher=Blackwell |isbn=978-0-631-22492-1}}</ref>

By the 11th century, London was clearly the largest town in England. [[Westminster Abbey]], rebuilt in [[Romanesque architecture|Romanesque]] style by King [[Edward the Confessor]], was one of the grandest churches in Europe. [[Winchester]] had been the capital of [[History of Anglo-Saxon England|Anglo-Saxon England]], but from this time London became the main forum for foreign traders and the base for defence in time of war. In the view of [[Frank Stenton]]: "It had the resources, and it was rapidly developing the dignity and the political self-consciousness appropriate to a [[national capital]]."<ref>{{Cite book |author-link=Frank Stenton |last=Stenton |first=Frank |year=1971 |title=Anglo-Saxon England |pages=538–539 |publisher=Oxford University Press |edition=3rd |isbn=978-0-19-280139-5}}</ref>

===Middle Ages===
[[File:Westminster Abbey by Canaletto, 1749.jpg|thumb|[[Westminster Abbey]], as seen in this painting ([[Canaletto]], 1749), is a [[World Heritage Site]] and one of London's oldest and most important buildings.]]
After winning the [[Battle of Hastings]], [[William the Conqueror|William, Duke of Normandy]] was crowned [[King of England]] in newly completed [[Westminster Abbey]] on Christmas Day 1066.<ref name="london_015">{{Cite web |last=Ibeji |first=Mike |date=17 February 2011 |title=History&nbsp;– 1066&nbsp;– King William |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/normans/1066_06.shtml |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090922053048/http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/normans/1066_06.shtml |archive-date=22 September 2009 |access-date=29 March 2021 |publisher=[[BBC]]}}</ref> William built the [[Tower of London]], the first of many such in England rebuilt in stone in the south-eastern corner of the city, to intimidate the inhabitants.<ref name=london_016>{{Cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/architecture_02.shtml |title=A History of British Architecture&nbsp;— White Tower |last=Tinniswood |first=Adrian |author-link=Adrian Tinniswood |publisher=BBC |access-date=5 May 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090213124332/http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/architecture_02.shtml |archive-date=13 February 2009 |url-status=live}}</ref> In 1097, [[William II of England|William II]] began building [[Westminster Hall]], close by the abbey of the same name. It became the basis of a new [[Palace of Westminster]].<ref name=london_017>{{Cite web |url=http://www.parliament.uk/about/history/building.cfm |title=UK Parliament&nbsp;— Parliament: The building |date=9 November 2007 |publisher=UK Parliament |access-date=27 April 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080311032051/http://www.parliament.uk/about/history/building.cfm |archive-date=11 March 2008 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

In the 12th century, the institutions of central government, which had hitherto followed the royal English court around the country, grew in size and sophistication and became increasingly fixed, for most purposes at [[Westminster]], although the royal treasury came to rest in the [[Tower of London|Tower]]. While the [[Westminster|City of Westminster]] developed into a true governmental capital, its distinct neighbour, the [[City of London]], remained England's largest city and principal commercial centre and flourished under its own unique administration, the [[City of London Corporation|Corporation of London]]. In 1100, its population was some 18,000; by 1300 it had grown to nearly 100,000.<ref name=london_019>{{Cite book |last1=Schofield |first1=John |last2=Vince |first2=Alan|author2-link=Alan Vince |title=Medieval Towns: The Archaeology of British Towns in Their European Setting |publisher=Continuum International Publishing Group |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-8264-6002-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Qu7QLC7g7VgC&pg=PA26 |page=26}}</ref> With the [[Black Death]] in the mid-14th century, London lost nearly a third of its population.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ibeji |first=Mike |date=10 March 2011 |title=BBC – History – British History in depth: Black Death |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/middle_ages/black_01.shtml|url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110430191039/http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/middle_ages/black_01.shtml |archive-date=30 April 2011 |access-date=3 November 2008 |publisher=BBC|language=en-GB}}</ref> London was the focus of the [[Peasants' Revolt]] in 1381.<ref name=london_020>{{Cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/richard_ii_king.shtml |title=Richard II (1367–1400) |publisher=BBC |access-date=12 October 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110430191132/http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/richard_ii_king.shtml |archive-date=30 April 2011 |url-status=live}}</ref>

London was a centre of England's [[History of the Jews in England (1066–1290)|Jewish population]] before their [[Edict of Expulsion|expulsion]] by [[Edward I of England|Edward I]] in 1290. Violence against Jews occurred in 1190, when it was rumoured that the new king had ordered their massacre after they had presented themselves at his coronation.<ref name="Jacobs">{{Cite web |last1=Jacobs |first1=Joseph |year=1906 |title=England |url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/5764-england |website=[[Jewish Encyclopedia]] }}</ref> In 1264 during the [[Second Barons' War]], [[Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester|Simon de Montfort]]'s rebels killed 500 Jews while attempting to seize records of debts.<ref name=Mundill2010>{{Citation |work=Continuum |ol=24816680M |isbn=978-1-84725-186-2 |location=London |title=The King's Jews |url=https://archive.org/details/kingsjewsmoneyma00mund |first=Robin R. |last=Mundill |lccn=2010282921 |oclc=466343661 |year=2010 |pages=88–99}}</ref>

===Early modern===
[[File:Siege of London (MS 1168).jpg|thumb|upright|The [[House of Lancaster|Lancastrian]] siege of London in 1471 is attacked by a [[House of York|Yorkist]] sally.]]

During the [[Tudor period]], the [[English Reformation|Reformation]] produced a gradual shift to [[Protestantism]]. Much of London property passed from church to private ownership, which accelerated trade and business in the city.<ref name="pevsner">{{Cite book |last=Pevsner |first=Nikolaus |title=London – The Cities of London and Westminster |publisher=[[Penguin Books]] |edition=2nd |volume=1 |publication-date=1 January 1962 |pages=48 |asin=B0000CLHU5}}</ref> In 1475, the [[Hanseatic League]] set up a main trading base (''[[kontor]]'') of England in London, called the ''Stalhof'' or ''[[Steelyard]]''. It remained until 1853, when the Hanseatic cities of [[Lübeck]], [[Bremen]] and [[Hamburg]] sold the property to [[South Eastern Railway, UK|South Eastern Railway]].<ref name=EB>{{Cite EB1911 |wstitle=Steelyard, Merchants of the}}</ref> [[Woollen]] cloth was shipped undyed and undressed from 14th/15th century London to the nearby shores of the [[Low Countries]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Pounds |first=Normal J. G. |title=An Historical Geography of Europe 450 B.C.–A.D. 1330 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |year=1973 |isbn=9781139163552 |pages=430 |doi=10.1017/CBO9781139163552}}</ref>

Yet English maritime enterprise hardly reached beyond the seas of [[Northwestern Europe|north-west Europe]]. The commercial route to Italy and the [[Mediterranean]] was normally through [[Antwerp]] and over the [[Alps]]; any ships passing through the [[Strait of Gibraltar]] to or from England were likely to be Italian or [[Republic of Ragusa|Ragusan]]. The reopening of the Netherlands to English shipping in January 1565 spurred a burst of commercial activity.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ramsay |first=George Daniel |title=The Queen's Merchants and the Revolt of the Netherlands (The End of the Antwerp Mart, Vol 2) |publisher=[[Manchester University Press]] |year=1986 |isbn=9780719018497 |pages=1 & 62–63}}</ref> The [[Royal Exchange, London|Royal Exchange]] was founded.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Burgon |first=John William |title=The Life and Times of Sir Thomas Gresham, Founder of the Royal Exchange: Including Notices of Many of His Contemporaries. With Illustrations, Volume 2 |publisher=R. Jennings |year=1839 |isbn=978-1277223903 |location=London |pages=80–81}}</ref> [[Mercantilism]] grew and monopoly traders such as the [[East India Company]] were founded as trade expanded to the [[New World]]. London became the main [[North Sea]] port, with migrants arriving from England and abroad. The population rose from about 50,000 in 1530 to about 225,000 in 1605.<ref name=pevsner/>

[[File:London - John Norden's map of 1593.jpg|thumb|left|Map of London in 1593. There is only one bridge across the Thames, but parts of Southwark on the south bank of the river have been developed.]]
In the 16th century, [[William Shakespeare]] and his contemporaries lived in London during [[English Renaissance theatre]]. Shakespeare's [[Globe Theatre]] was constructed in 1599 in [[London Borough of Southwark|Southwark]]. Stage performances came to a halt in London when [[Puritan]] authorities [[London theatre closure 1642|shut down the theatres]] in the 1640s.<ref>{{cite news |title=From pandemics to puritans: when theatre shut down through history and how it recovered |url=https://www.thestage.co.uk/long-reads/from-pandemics-to-puritans-when-theatre-shut-down-through-history-and-how-it-recovered |access-date=22 June 2022 |website=The Stage.co.uk}}</ref> The ban on theatre was lifted during [[Stuart Restoration|the Restoration]] in 1660, and London's oldest operating theatre, [[Theatre Royal, Drury Lane|Drury Lane]], opened in 1663 in what is now the [[West End theatre|West End]] theatre district.<ref>{{cite news |title= London's 10 oldest theatres|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/europe/united-kingdom/england/london/galleries/Londons-oldest-theatres/ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/europe/united-kingdom/england/london/galleries/Londons-oldest-theatres/ |archive-date=11 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|access-date=27 June 2022 |work=The Telegraph}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

By the end of the Tudor period in 1603, London was still compact. There was an assassination attempt on [[James I of England|James I]] in Westminster, in the [[Gunpowder Plot]] of 5 November 1605.<ref name=london_023>{{Cite book |title=James I |last=Durston |first=Christopher |year=1993 |publisher=Routledge |location=London |isbn=978-0-415-07779-8 |page=[https://archive.org/details/jamesi0000durs/page/59 59] |url=https://archive.org/details/jamesi0000durs/page/59}}</ref> In 1637, the government of [[Charles I of England|Charles I]] attempted to reform administration in the London area. This called for the Corporation of the city to extend its jurisdiction and administration over expanding areas around the city. Fearing an attempt by the Crown to diminish the [[Liberties of London]], coupled with a lack of interest in administering these additional areas or concern by city guilds of having to share power, caused the Corporation's "The Great Refusal", a decision which largely continues to account for the unique governmental status of the [[City of London|City]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Doolittle |first1=Ian |year=2014 |title='The Great Refusal': Why Does the City of London Corporation Only Govern the Square Mile? |journal=The London Journal |volume=39 |issue=1 |pages=21–36 |doi=10.1179/0305803413Z.00000000038 |s2cid=159791907}}</ref>

In the [[English Civil War]], the majority of Londoners supported the [[Roundhead|Parliamentary]] cause. After an initial advance by the [[Cavaliers|Royalists]] in 1642, culminating in the battles of [[Battle of Brentford (1642)|Brentford]] and [[Battle of Turnham Green|Turnham Green]], London was surrounded by a defensive perimeter wall known as the [[Lines of Communication (London)|Lines of Communication]]. The lines were built by up to 20,000 people, and were completed in under two months.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Flintham |first=David |title=London |url=http://www.fortified-places.com/london/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090116190923/http://www.fortified-places.com/london/ |archive-date=16 January 2009 |access-date=28 March 2021 |website=Fortified Places}}</ref>
The fortifications failed their only test when the [[New Model Army]] entered London in 1647,<ref>Harrington, Peter (2003). ''English Civil War Fortifications 1642–51'', Volume 9 of Fortress, 9, Osprey Publishing, {{ISBN|1-84176-604-6}}. [https://books.google.com/books?id=dKwKIiqAnlkC&pg=PA57 p. 57]</ref> and they were levelled by Parliament the same year.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Flintham |first=David |title=London |url=http://www.fortified-places.com/london/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090116190923/http://www.fortified-places.com/london/|archive-date=16 January 2009 |access-date=28 March 2021 |website=Fortified Places}}{{Cite book |title=The English Civil War: A contemporary account (v. 1) |publisher=Caliban Books |others=Wencelaus Hollar (Illustrator), Christopher Hill (Introduction) |isbn=978-1850660316 |editor-last=Razzell |editor-first=Peter |publication-date=1 January 1996 |editor-last2=Razzell |editor-first2=Edward}}{{Cite book |last=Gardiner |first=Samuel R. |title=History of the Great Civil War, 1642-1649 |date=18 December 2016 |publisher=Forgotten Books |isbn=978-1334658464 |volume=3 |publication-date=16 July 2017 |pages=218}}</ref>

[[File:Great Fire London.jpg|thumb|The [[Great Fire of London]] destroyed many parts of the city in 1666.]]
London was [[Bubonic plague|plagued]] by disease in the early 17th century,<ref name=london_024>{{Cite web |url=http://urbanrim.org.uk/plague%20list.htm |title=A List of National Epidemics of Plague in England 1348–1665 |publisher=Urban Rim |date=4 December 2009 |access-date=3 May 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090508010316/http://urbanrim.org.uk/plague%20list.htm |archive-date=8 May 2009 |url-status=dead}}</ref> culminating in the [[Great Plague of London|Great Plague]] of 1665–1666, which killed up to 100,000 people, or a fifth of the population.<ref name=london_024/>

The [[Great Fire of London]] broke out in 1666 in Pudding Lane in the city and quickly swept through the wooden buildings.<ref name="Samuel Pepys' Diary">{{Cite book |last=Pepys |first=Samuel |author-link=Samuel Pepys |title=The Diary of Samuel Pepys |volume=45: August/September 1666 |date=2 September 1666 |publisher=Univ of California Press |orig-year=1893 |editor=[[Mynors Bright]] (decipherer) |editor2=[[Henry B. Wheatley]] |url=http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/4167/pg4167.html |isbn=978-0-520-22167-3 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130813025236/http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/4167/pg4167.html |archive-date=13 August 2013 |url-status=live}}</ref> Rebuilding took over ten years and was supervised by polymath [[Robert Hooke]].<ref name="london_026">{{Cite web |last=Schofield |first=John |date=17 February 2011 |title=BBC – History – British History in depth: London After the Great Fire |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/civil_war_revolution/after_fire_01.shtml |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090410000142/http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/civil_war_revolution/after_fire_02.shtml |archive-date=10 April 2009 |access-date=29 March 2021 |publisher=BBC |language=en-GB}}</ref> In 1708 [[Christopher Wren]]'s masterpiece, [[St Paul's Cathedral]], was completed. During the [[Georgian era]], new districts such as [[Mayfair]] were formed in the west; new bridges over the Thames encouraged development in [[South London]]. In the east, the [[Port of London]] expanded downstream. London's development as an international [[financial centre]] matured for much of the 18th century.<ref name='Finance Hub'>{{cite news |title=Amsterdam and London as financial centers in the eighteenth century |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/financial-history-review/article/abs/amsterdam-and-london-as-financial-centers-in-the-eighteenth-century1/8B23F8D271B1BCD05594064523600E85 |access-date=4 July 2022 |work=Cambridge University Press}}</ref>

In 1762, [[George III of Great Britain|George III]] acquired [[Buckingham Palace|Buckingham House]], which was enlarged over the next 75 years. During the 18th century, London was said to be dogged by crime,<ref>''Hell on Earth, or the Town in an Uproar'' (anon., London 1729). Jarndyce Autumn Miscellany catalogue, London: 2021.</ref> and the [[Bow Street Runners]] were established in 1750 as a professional police force.<ref>{{Cite web |year=2001 |title=PBS – Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street|url=https://www.pbs.org/kqed/demonbarber/madding/thieftaker.html |access-date=28 March 2021 |publisher=PBS}}</ref> Epidemics during the 1720s and 30s saw most children born in the city die before reaching their fifth birthday.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Harris |first=Rhian |date=5 October 2012 |title=History – The Foundling Hospital|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/victorians/foundling_01.shtml |access-date=28 March 2021 |publisher=[[BBC]] |language=en-GB}}</ref>

[[coffeehouse|Coffee-houses]] became a popular place to debate ideas, as growing [[literacy]] and development of the [[printing press]] made news widely available, with [[Fleet Street]] becoming the centre of the British press. The invasion of Amsterdam by Napoleonic armies led many financiers to relocate to London and the first London international issue was arranged in 1817. Around the same time, the [[Royal Navy]] became the world's leading war fleet, acting as a major deterrent to potential economic adversaries. The repeal of the [[Corn Laws]] in 1846 was specifically aimed at weakening Dutch economic power. London then overtook Amsterdam as the leading international financial centre.<ref name="auto2">{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Yor4DAAAQBAJ |title=Finance Masters: A Brief History of International Financial Centers in the Last Millennium |last=Coispeau |first=Olivier |date=2016 |publisher=World Scientific |isbn=978-981-310-884-4}}</ref>

===Late modern and contemporary===
With the onset of the [[Industrial Revolution]] in Britain, an unprecedented growth in [[urbanisation]] took place, and the number of [[High Street]]s (the primary street for retail in Britain) rapidly grew.<ref name="Sales">{{cite news |last1=White |first1=Matthew |title=The rise of cities in the 18th century |url=https://www.bl.uk/georgian-britain/articles/the-rise-of-cities-in-the-18th-century |access-date=11 June 2022 |agency=British Library |archive-date=22 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220522225623/https://www.bl.uk/georgian-britain/articles/the-rise-of-cities-in-the-18th-century |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{Cite conference |title=Trends in urbanisation |year=1993|author=Christopher Watson|editor1=K.B. Wildey |editor2=Wm H. Robinson |conference=Proceedings of the First International Conference on Urban Pests |citeseerx=10.1.1.522.7409}}</ref> London was the world's [[List of largest cities throughout history|largest city]] from about 1831 to 1925, with a population density of 802 per acre (325 per hectare).<ref name="london_030">{{Cite web |title=London: The greatest city |url=http://www.channel4.com/history/microsites/H/history/i-m/london4.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090419104109/http://www.channel4.com/history/microsites/H/history/i-m/london4.html |archive-date=19 April 2009 |access-date=25 March 2021 |publisher=Channel 4}}</ref> In addition to the growing number of stores selling goods, such as [[Harding, Howell & Co.]]—one of the first [[department store]]s—located on [[Pall Mall, London|Pall Mall]], the streets had scores of [[Hawker (trade)|street seller]]s.<ref name="Sales"/> London's overcrowded conditions led to [[cholera]] epidemics, claiming 14,000 lives in 1848, and 6,000 in 1866.<ref>{{Cite web |author=Brown, Robert W. |url=http://www.uncp.edu/home/rwb/london_19c.html |title=London in the Nineteenth Century |publisher=University of North Carolina at Pembroke |access-date=13 December 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111230164544/http://www.uncp.edu/home/rwb/london_19c.html |archive-date=30 December 2011}}</ref> Rising [[traffic congestion]] led to the creation of the [[London Underground]], the world's first [[Rapid transit|urban rail network]].<ref>{{cite news |title=A short history of world metro systems – in pictures |url=https://www.theguardian.com/cities/gallery/2014/sep/10/-sp-history-metro-pictures-london-underground-new-york-beijing-seoul |access-date=3 March 2024 |work=The Guardian}}</ref> The [[Metropolitan Board of Works]] oversaw infrastructure expansion in the capital and some surrounding counties; it was abolished in 1889 when the [[London County Council]] was created out of county areas surrounding the capital.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Pennybacker |first1=Susan D. |title=Vision for London, 1889–1914 |date=2005 |publisher=Routledge |page=18}}</ref>

From the early years of the 20th century onwards, [[Tea in the United Kingdom#Tea rooms|teashops]] were found on High Streets across London and the rest of Britain, with [[J. Lyons and Co.|Lyons]], who opened the first of their [[Chain store|chain]] of teashops in [[Piccadilly]] in 1894, leading the way.<ref>{{cite news |title=Bawden and battenberg: the Lyons teashop lithographs |url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2013/jul/12/bawden-battenberg-lyons-teashops-lithographs |access-date=27 June 2022 |work=The Guardian}}</ref> The tearooms, such as the [[Criterion Restaurant|Criterion]] in Piccadilly, became a popular meeting place for women from the suffrage movement.<ref>{{cite news |title=Taking Tea and Talking Politics: The Role of Tearooms|url=https://historicengland.org.uk/research/inclusive-heritage/womens-history/suffrage/taking-tea-and-talking-politics/ |access-date=27 June 2022 |work=Historic England}}</ref> The city was the target of many attacks during the [[suffragette bombing and arson campaign]], between 1912 and 1914, which saw historic landmarks such as [[Westminster Abbey]] and [[St Paul's Cathedral]] bombed.<ref>{{cite web |title=Suffragettes, violence and militancy |url=https://www.bl.uk/votes-for-women/articles/suffragettes-violence-and-militancy |website=British Library |access-date=9 October 2021 |archive-date=10 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210910203912/https://www.bl.uk/votes-for-women/articles/suffragettes-violence-and-militancy |url-status=dead }}</ref>

{{multiple image
| direction         = vertical
| align             = right
| width             = 220
| image1            = British recruits August 1914 Q53234.jpg
| caption1          = British volunteer recruits in London, August 1914, during [[World War I]]
| image2            = LondonBombedWWII full.jpg
| caption2          = A bombed-out London street during [[the Blitz]], [[World War II]]
}}

{{anchor|German air attacks}}London was [[German strategic bombing during World War I|bombed by the Germans]] in the [[First World War]], and during the [[Second World War]], [[the Blitz]] and other bombings by the German ''[[Luftwaffe]]'' killed over 30,000 Londoners, destroying large tracts of housing and other buildings across the city.<ref>{{Cite web |date=18 May 2016 |title=Bomb-Damage Maps Reveal London's World War II Devastation |url=http://www.nationalgeographic.com.au/history/bomb-damage-maps-reveal-londons-world-war-ii-devastation.aspx |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170430155359/http://www.nationalgeographic.com.au/history/bomb-damage-maps-reveal-londons-world-war-ii-devastation.aspx |archive-date=30 April 2017 |access-date=18 June 2017 |website=nationalgeographic.com.au}}</ref> The tomb of [[the Unknown Warrior]], an unidentified member of the British armed forces killed during the First World War, was buried in Westminster Abbey on 11 November 1920.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nam.ac.uk/press/buried-among-kings-story-unknown-warrior |title=Buried Among Kings: The Story of the Unknown Warrior |website=Nam.ac.uk |publisher=National Army Museum |access-date=15 April 2023}}</ref> [[The Cenotaph]], located in [[Whitehall]], was unveiled on the same day, and is the focal point for the [[National Service of Remembrance]] held annually on [[Remembrance Sunday]], the closest Sunday to 11 November.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Vaughan-Barratt |first1=Nick |title=Remembrance |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/aboutthebbc/entries/0c66fc02-abf2-31e0-9867-cc306b16d3c9 |website=BBC Blogs |date=4 November 2009 |publisher=BBC |access-date=15 April 2023}}</ref>

The [[1948 Summer Olympics]] were held at the original [[Wembley Stadium (1923)|Wembley Stadium]], while London was still recovering from the war.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Ronk |first=Liz |date=27 July 2013 |title=LIFE at the 1948 London Olympics |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |url=http://time.com/3877686/1948-london-summer-olympics-life-photos/|url-status=dead |access-date=18 June 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150530005852/http://time.com/3877686/1948-london-summer-olympics-life-photos/ |archive-date=30 May 2015}}</ref> From the 1940s, London became home to many immigrants, primarily from [[Commonwealth of Nations|Commonwealth]] countries such as Jamaica, India, Bangladesh and Pakistan,<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Hibbert |first1=Christopher |title=The London Encyclopaedia |last2=Weinreb |first2=Ben |last3=Keay |first3=Julia |last4=Keay |first4=John |publisher=[[Pan Macmillan]] |others=Photographs by Matthew Weinreb |year=2010 |isbn=9781405049252 |edition=3rd |page=428}}</ref> making London one of the most diverse cities in the world. In 1951, the [[Festival of Britain]] was held on the [[South Bank]].<ref>{{Cite news |year=2008 |title=1951: King George opens Festival of Britain |publisher=BBC |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/may/3/newsid_2481000/2481099.stm |access-date=18 June 2017}}</ref> The [[Great Smog]] of 1952 led to the [[Clean Air Act 1956]], which ended the "[[pea soup fog]]s" for which London had been notorious, and had earned it the nickname the "Big Smoke".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Breen |first=Matt |title=Most Googled: why is London called the 'Big Smoke'? |url=https://www.timeout.com/london/blog/most-googled-why-is-london-called-the-big-smoke-011317 |access-date=29 November 2022 |website=[[Time Out London]] |date=13 January 2017 |language=en-GB}}</ref>

Starting mainly in the mid-1960s, London became a centre for worldwide [[youth culture]], exemplified by the [[Swinging London]] sub-culture associated with the [[King's Road]], [[Chelsea, London|Chelsea]] and [[Carnaby Street]].<ref>{{cite book | title=Swinging City: A Cultural Geography of London 1950–1974 | publisher=Routledge | author=Rycroft, Simon | year=2016 | pages=87 | chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=I5O1CwAAQBAJ&pg=PT87 | chapter=Mapping Swinging London| isbn=9781317047346 }}</ref> The role of trendsetter revived in the [[punk rock|punk]] era.<ref>{{Cite book |author=Bracken |first=Gregory B. |title=Walking Tour London: Sketches of the city's architectural treasures... Journey Through London's Urban Landscapes |publisher=Marshall Cavendish International |year=2011 |isbn=9789814435369 |page=10}}</ref> In 1965 London's political boundaries were expanded in response to the growth of the urban area and a new [[Greater London Council]] was created.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-35716693 |title=The rise and fall of the GLC |last=Webber |first=Esther |date=31 March 2016 |website=BBC Newsmaccess-date=18 June 2017}}</ref> During [[The Troubles]] in Northern Ireland, London was hit from 1973 by bomb attacks by the [[Provisional Irish Republican Army]].<ref name=bombings/> These attacks lasted for two decades, starting with the [[Old Bailey bombing]].<ref name=bombings>>{{Cite web |last=Godoy |first=Maria |date=7 July 2005 |title=Timeline: London's Explosive History |url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4734400 |access-date=25 March 2021 |publisher=NPR}}</ref> Racial inequality was highlighted by the [[1981 Brixton riot]].<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/4854556.stm |title=The legacy of the Brixton riots |last=John |first=Cindi |date=5 April 2006 |publisher=BBC |access-date=18 June 2017}}</ref>

Greater London's population declined in the decades after the Second World War, from an estimated peak of 8.6&nbsp;million in 1939 to around 6.8&nbsp;million in the 1980s.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-31082941 |title=London's population hits 8.6m record high |work=BBC News |date=2 February 2015 |access-date=19 June 2017}}</ref> The principal ports for London moved downstream to [[Port of Felixstowe|Felixstowe]] and [[Port of Tilbury|Tilbury]], with the [[London Docklands]] area becoming a focus for regeneration, including the [[Canary Wharf]] development. This was born out of London's increasing role as an international financial centre in the 1980s.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/jan/28/canary-wharf-timeline-london-building-docklands-thatcher |title=Canary Wharf timeline: from the Thatcher years to Qatari control |last=Zolfagharifard |first=Ellie |date=14 February 2014 |website=The Guardian |access-date=19 June 2017}}</ref> Located about 2 miles (3&nbsp;km) east of central London, the [[Thames Barrier]] was completed in the 1980s to protect London against tidal surges from the [[North Sea]].<ref>{{cite journal |last=Kendrick |first=Mary |author-link=Mary Kendrick |date=1988 |title=The Thames Barrier |journal=Landscape and Urban Planning |volume=16 |issue=1–2 |pages=57–68|doi=10.1016/0169-2046(88)90034-5 }}</ref>

The Greater London Council was abolished in 1986, leaving London with no central administration until 2000 and the creation of the [[Greater London Authority]].<ref>{{Cite news |year=2008 |title=1986: Greater London Council abolished |publisher=BBC |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/march/31/newsid_2530000/2530803.stm |access-date=20 June 2017}}</ref> To mark the 21st century, the [[Millennium Dome]], [[London Eye]] and [[Millennium Bridge (London)|Millennium Bridge]] were constructed.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.building.co.uk/millennium-projects-10-years-of-good-luck/5001637.article |title=Millennium projects: 10 years of good luck |last=Ijeh |first=Ike |date=25 June 2010 |website=building.co.uk |access-date=20 June 2017}}</ref> On 6 July 2005 London was awarded the [[2012 Summer Olympics]], as the first city to stage the [[Olympic Games]] three times.<ref name="IOC"/> On 7 July 2005, three London Underground trains and a double-decker bus were bombed in a [[7 July 2005 London bombings|series of terrorist attacks]].<ref name=bombings/>

In 2008, ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' named London alongside New York City and Hong Kong as [[Nylonkong]], hailing them as the world's three most influential [[global cities]].<ref>{{Cite book |title=International Handbook of Globalization and World Cities |publisher=[[Edward Elgar Publishing]] |year=2015 |isbn=9781785360688 |editor-last=Derudder |editor-first=Ben |page=422 |editor-last2=Hoyler |editor-first2=Michael |editor-last3=Taylor |editor-first3=Peter J. |editor-last4=Witlox |editor-first4=Frank}}</ref> In January 2015, Greater London's population was estimated to be 8.63&nbsp;million, its highest since 1939.<ref name="gla-pop-2015">{{Cite web |title=Population Growth in London, 1939–2015 |url=http://data.london.gov.uk/dataset/population-change-1939-2015/resource/0a026346-960e-49e6-b968-a386d2cfe55f |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150219160246/http://data.london.gov.uk/dataset/population-change-1939-2015/resource/0a026346-960e-49e6-b968-a386d2cfe55f |archive-date=19 February 2015 |url-status=dead |website=London Datastore |publisher=Greater London Authority |access-date=7 July 2015}} [https://londondatastore-upload.s3.amazonaws.com/dataset/population-change-1939-2015/historical%20population%201939-2015.pdf Alt URL]</ref> During the [[2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum|Brexit referendum]] in 2016, the UK as a whole decided to leave the [[European Union]], but most London constituencies voted for remaining.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Chandler |first=Mark |date=24 June 2016 |title='Wouldn't you prefer to be President Sadiq?' Thousands call on Sadiq Khan to declare London's independence and join EU |url=https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/wouldnt-you-prefer-to-be-president-sadiq-thousands-back-campaign-for-sadiq-khan-to-declare-londons-a3280141.html |access-date=25 March 2021 |website=[[Evening Standard]] |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201108104206/https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/wouldnt-you-prefer-to-be-president-sadiq-thousands-back-campaign-for-sadiq-khan-to-declare-londons-a3280141.html |archive-date= 8 November 2020 }}</ref> However, Britain's [[Brexit|exit from the EU]] in early 2020 only marginally weakened London's position as an international financial centre.<ref>{{cite web |title=London as a Financial Center Since Brexit: Evidence from the 2022 BIS Triennial Survey |url=https://www.bu.edu/gdp/2022/12/16/london-as-a-financial-center-since-brexit-evidence-from-the-2022-bis-triennial-survey/ |website=Boston University Global Development Policy Center  |date=16 December 2022 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230927094017/https://www.bu.edu/gdp/2022/12/16/london-as-a-financial-center-since-brexit-evidence-from-the-2022-bis-triennial-survey/ |archive-date= 27 September 2023 }}</ref>

On 6 May 2023, the [[Coronation of Charles III and Camilla|coronation of Charles III]] and his wife, Camilla, as king and queen of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms, took place at [[Westminster Abbey]], London.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Coronation Weekend |url=https://www.royal.uk/coronation-weekend |website=The Royal Family |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240115070223/https://www.royal.uk/coronation-weekend |archive-date= 15 January 2024 }}</ref>