Images of London in 1896

1896 is the first year that I've been able to find a video of. It just depicts London traffic, but it's still interesting to get a sense of what that was like. This other video from the same year shows the traffic over Blackfriars Bridge. I love the face on the guy who walks by looking at the camera. Birt Acres showed London its first moving picture on 14 January 1896. Other demonstrations of the film projector soon followed.

That summer at the Crystal Palace, Bridget Driscoll became the first person in the world to be killed in a car accident. The coroner said he hoped "such a thing would never happen again." That same year, Britain opened their first car factory.

In the fall, Queen Victoria was recognized as the longest reigning monarch in the history of England.

Piccadilly Circus 1896

Regent Street 1896

Hammersmith Bridge 1896

Clapham Rd 1896

Burlington House 1896 The words on the lamppost lead me to the next picture.

The Egyptian Hall in Piccadilly Circus 1896 David Devant started showing moving pictures there that year.

Another view of the Egyptian Hall in London in 1896

Georges Méliès performs "The Vanishing Lady" (at the Egyptian Hall?) 1896

Street view of the Egyptian Hall 1896

Natural History Museum 1896

Clock Tower Houses of Parliament 1896

London Bridge 1896

Euston Station 1896

Chancery Lane 1896

UAOD (United Ancient Order of Druids) Lodges Old Kent Road 1896

Six-day Race at the London Aquarium by Samuel Begg 1896

Inventor Guglielmo Marconi amazes a London assemblage in 1896 with a demonstration of wireless communication across a room.

Swami Vivekananda in London in December 1896.

Want more? Go further back to Images of London in 1889, 1890, 1891, 1892, 1893, 1894, and 1895.
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