London's Tower Bridge raises its roadway for the first time to let a ship pass up the Thames

Oscar Wilde's most brilliant comedy, The Importance of Being Earnest is performed in London's St. James Theatre

Khama III, the king of Bechuanaland, travels to London to demand the continuing protection of the British crown

The Limes becomes the seat of local government in Mortlake, and remains so until 1940

Gwen John persuades a reluctant father to allow her to follow her younger brother to the Slade School of Art in London

A promenade concert, presented by Henry Wood in London's Queen's Hall, turns out to be the beginning of a very long tradition

The Dutch House is acquired by Kew Gardens and a few years later is opened to the public

The Duc D'Orleans, who had been born at York House in 1869, buys the house and makes major alterations. These include a new east wing housing a museum and swimming pool, and walling the riverside grounds.

To accommodate the increasing number of children, the Queen’s School is rebuilt on three storeys

Somerset Maugham publishes his first novel, Liza of Lambeth, based on the London life he has observed as a medical student

Richmond Golf Club is established at Sudbrook Park

The Cunard family, then living close by at Orleans House, buy the Marble Hill estate for £36,000 with the intention of creating a housing estate.

Henry James moves from London to Lamb House in Rye, Sussex, which remains his home for the rest of his life

John Kelly (1840-1904) designs All Saints, Petersham, in the style of a Romanesque basilica

A new theatre opens on the Green in Richmond, designed by a speciallist in theatre architecture, Frank Matcham

The Central London (Tube) Railway charges a flat rate

Paul Ehrlich describes to the Royal Society in London his side-chain theory of molecules capable of attaching to toxins and thus generating antibodies, potentially providing immunity

Isadora Duncan dances professionally for the first time in Europe in London's Lyceum Theatre

Scottish music-hall artist Harry Lauder makes his first London appearance at Gatti's music hall in Westminster

David Belasco's play Madame Butterfly has its premiere in New York, and is subsequently seen in London by Giacomo Puccini

Jack London's first collection of stories, The Son of the Wolf, brings him a wide readership

Queen Victoria gives permission for the newly founded National Physical Laboratory to move into Bushy House and its grounds

Stephen Wheeler is left as the last of the lightermen to use the St Helena Boathouses for coal and freight, and increasingly switches the focus of his business to the trade of boat-hiring.

The Leyborne-Pophams start selling off the market gardens and then the farm buildings of East Sheen and West Hall for housing and cemeteries and sewage works

After opposition to the development, the Marble Hill estate is bought for £70,000 by funds from local authorities and individuals. The property is held by the London County Council, subsequently the Greater London Council.