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10 stops · about 0.4 km on foot · London, United Kingdom

Dark history around London (part 2)

Follow the stops in order. Each is a documented story set at or near this spot.

Open the walking route in Maps See it on the Dark Atlas

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  1. Start · London · 1517

    The Riot That Turned Cannons On London Itself

    A thousand citizens rampaged against foreign workers until the Tower fired its own artillery on the city.

  2. same spot · London · 1485

    The Sickness That Killed in Hours and Vanished

    In 1485 a fever reached London that could kill within a day. It returned four more times, crossed the Channel once, and after 1551 was never seen again. Its cause is still unknown.

  3. same spot · London · 1266

    The Whipping Behind The Baker's Dozen

    That friendly thirteenth loaf wasn't generosity; it was a medieval baker's insurance against a public flogging.

  4. same spot · London · 1611

    The Cross-Dressing Criminal Who Died in Her Bed

    A pickpocket and fence who performed on stage in men's clothes, she outlived almost every man who tried to stop her.

  5. same spot · London · 1863

    The Fashion That Killed Hundreds of Women

    A hearth spark and a wide flammable skirt were all it took. Florence Nightingale counted at least 630 such deaths in two years.

  6. same spot · London · 1797

    The Feminist Philosopher Killed by Childbirth

    She wrote one of history's first feminist manifestos, then died days after giving birth to the daughter who wrote Frankenstein.

  7. same spot · London · 60

    The Queen Rome Flogged Into A Rebellion

    Rome seized her kingdom, flogged her, and let her daughters be assaulted — she answered by burning three cities to the ground.

  8. same spot · London · 1782

    The Wife-Beating Law That Never Existed

    A viral fact about a wife-beating law is fake, but the real legal history it hides is far darker than the myth.

  9. 310 m on · Whitehall, London · 1685

    The King Who Took Four Days to Die

    Charles II collapsed on 2 February 1685 and died four days later after bleeding, purging and cupping. Mercury poisoning is the famous theory. A more recent medical reading points to kidney failure.

  10. 61 m on · Whitehall Palace, London · 1546

    The Wife Who Talked Her Way Off The Block

    Her enemies drew up a warrant for her arrest. She went to Henry, played the humble wife, and the next day he sent the guards away.

Coordinates mark the place of each story, and some are approximate. Check opening times and access before you go.