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London was founded in AD 43 by a bunch of Romans, who built a small settlement on the River Thames and called it Londinium. When they left, however, the town descended into chaos, and by the 5th century it was almost completely gone.
In the year 600, London was rebuilt by Anglo-Saxons, but then Vikings invaded in 851 and razed it to the ground once again. It wasn’t until King Alfred the Great re-established London in 886 that it really got started.
In 1066, William the Conqueror and the Normans invaded Britain and took over London, building many of its first government institutions. Trade grew during this period, and London’s population multiplied rapidly – until it was struck down with the plague (the Black Death) in the 14th century, and lost half its population almost overnight.
Stuart London saw some interesting times, from the highs of Shakespeare to the lows of Guy Fawkes’ Gunpowder Plot. London underwent a great surge of culture, but at the same time there was much political unrest. In 1666, the plague reared its head again for one last time with the Great Plague – the same year as the Great Fire of London, which was initially blamed on Catholic inciters. These two events together were nearly catastrophic for the young city, and it took years for it to recover.
In the next few centuries, however, London became a great port and a financial centre of Europe, and in the late 18th century it was one of the first places to join the Industrial Revolution. There was mass movement to London once again, and a massive period of rapid growth and development in the city that has never really stopped since.
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