London - Introduction and History

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INTRODUCTION

London is the biggest city in Britain. More than seven million people live and work there.
London is also one of the most important cities in the world. It is a centre for business and for tourism.
In London you can find some of the best theatres and museums in the world. You can find old and new buildings, and many beautiful parks.


HISTORY of LONDON

The Romans
The Romans came to England in AD 43. They built a town on the River Thames. The name of the town was Londinium. The Romans chose a good place for the town.

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William the Conqueror
In 1066, William the Conqueror came to England. William came from Normandy in France. He became King of England and lived in London.
But William was afraid of the people of London. He built a big building for himself - the White Tower. Now it is part of the Tower of London.

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Shakespeare's London
Shakespeare was bom in Stratford-on-Avon in 1564. Later, he lived in London. Shakespeare wrote thirty-six plays. They are still read and acted all over the world.
The plays were acted in the Globe Theatre. The theatre was demolished in 1644.


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The Great Fire
The houses in Shakespeare's London were built very close to one another. They were made of wood. Sometimes there were small fires.
On Saturday 2nd September 1666, there was a big fire. lt started in the house of the King's baker, in Pudding Lane, near London Bridge.
The baker's wífe woke up in the middle of the night. The house was burning. Soon the next house started burning. Then the next and the next ... The fire fumed until Thursday.
Most of London was burnt. A quarter of a million people lost their homes.

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Dickens' London
People built houses again after the Great Fire. But they built them of stone and brick.
The city grew larger and larger. By 1830, there were more than one and a half million people in London.
The railways came. There were factories all over the city. London became richer and richer.
But there were also other changes. The city became dark and dirty. The air was full of smoke. People lived in very bad houses. Some very poor people did not have houses. They slept in buildings with beds for homeless people.
Charles Dickens lived from 1812 to 1870. He lived in London for many years. In his books we read about London at that time.

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We read about the rich people in their big houses. And we read about the poor people. Many of the London poor had little to eat.
Most children did not go to school. Some of them worked all day in factories. Other children lived in the streets. Every day children died in the streets of London.
But London is better now. The city is much cleaner. And many Londoners work in offices or shops. But a lot of people still work in factories.

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