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IN THE NEWS
TOUR OF THE MONTH
ON THIS DAY IN LONDON
16th October 1987 175-kph winds cause blackout in London, much of southern England
16th October 1959 Born today: Gary Kemp, London, rock guitarist (Spandau Ballet-True)
16th October 1958 The first episode of children's TV show Blue Peter is aired on Television.
16th October 1951 Born today: Daniel Gerroll, London, actor (Big Business)
16th October 1936 Actor Peter Bowles was born in London.
16th October 1927 Born today: Lee Montague, London England, actor (Uncle Sasha-Holocaust)
16th October 1925 Murder She Wrote actress Angela Lansbury was born in London.
16th October 1922 Happy birthday to entertainer Max Bygraves, born in Rotherhithe, East London.
16th October 1834 London parliament catches fire historic documents burn
Punch and Judy Birthplace
The birthplace in England of the Punch and Judy puppet show.
Location: St Pauls Portico, Westminster
Description: On the 9th May 1662 Samuel Pepys was coming back from visiting a nearby ale-house when he stopped to watch a puppet show that was performing in Covent Garden.
It was the month that King Charles II (recently restored to the throne) was getting married and hordes of entertainers from all over Europe had thronged to the city hoping to make some money.
The Italian puppet play that Pepys saw was presented by puppetmaster Pietro Gimonde - or 'Signor Bologna' as he was known to his audience - and starred one of the great comic characters of all time.
The star puppet came originally from Naples, where he was known as Pulcinella, then toured across Europe to France - where he was called Polichinelle - and finally came to captivate English audiences who settled for calling him Punchinello.
Pepys' diary entry for 9th May reporting that he had seen the show is taken by today's performers as marking Punch's 'birthday'.
Tagged in this Tour: Elizabethan & Stuart London
Children
Historical
Ranking This Month: 1496/2784
Pages Hit This Month: 37
Link to This Page: http://www.shadyoldlady.com/location/963
Credits: http://www.coventgardenlife.com/info/street_entertainers/punch_judy/punch_judy.htm
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The birthplace in England of the Punch and Judy puppet show. |
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St Paul's Cathedral
Wren's masterpiece and oldest classic dominant symbol of London.
2007-03-07
Sir John Gielgud lived here», 1.6km
Wiltons Music Hall», 1.4km
The Granville Theatre», 5.2km
The First ever London Theatre», 1.1km
The Magic Couple lived here», 3.8km
Clown Joseph Grimaldi lived here», 0.9km
The Players' Theatre», 1.0km
Magician David Devant lived here», 3.9km
Derek Jacobi lived here», 5.9km
The Old Mercury Theatre», 4.2km
mapping London's most interesting and unusual places and history
