Stories from the Underground Trivia Quiz

Answer: Charles Pearson

Pearson put proposals through in 1845 and again in 1846, both of which were rejected. Finally, in 1854, after stressing the need for an underground railway to relieve congestion, his revised proposal was accepted. Sadly, Pearson died in September 1862 so never got to witness the opening in January 1863.

Answer: Aldgate

Due to the high number of plague victims, it was impossible to give them traditional burials. Instead, large pits were dug, initially in churches and graveyards, but when these too began to fill, they began digging all around London. Robinson Crusoe author, Daniel Defoe, wrote in his book 'A journal of the plague year' about the plague pit under Aldgate station 'It was about forty feet in length and about fifteen or sixteen feet broad and at the time I first looked at it about nine feet deep; but they dug it near twenty feet deep afterwards in one part of it.'

Answer: Jerry Springer

Many of London's tube stations were used as bomb shelters during the war and it was in Highgate Station, where his mother, Margot, was taking shelter that Springer was born. 5 years after his birth, his parents emigrated to the USA.

Answer: Mark Twain

After spending most of the 1890s travelling around the world, Twain was living in Dollis Hill, in northwest London, in 1900 and was invited to the Central Line's Grand Opening. As part of the celebrations, he took a ride on the maiden journey from Bank to Shepherds Bush along with guest of honour The Prince of Wales who would later become Edward VII.

Answer: Covent Garden

William Terris was murdered outside the Adelphi theatre by another actor in 1897. As he lay dying in the arms of a co-star he uttered the words "I will come back". His ghost has been sighted in the station on several occasions, but in 1955 there were several sightings in the space of just a few days. On the first occasion, a worker saw a man on the platform after the station had been closed for the night.

He offered to show the man to the exit and turned round to lead him along the platform. When he turned back again, the man had disappeared.

A few days later screams were heard coming from the staffroom and a worker claimed he had seen the ghost of a 'tall man' After being shown photos he later identified the ghost as William Terris.

Answer: St James's Park

The logo is called the roundel and was created in 1908 to distinguish the station name from advertising posters on the wall.
St James's park was originally written as St James' Park. Between 1933 and 1951 it was written as St James Park. In 1951 it became St James's Park but there is still one of the original signs of St James' park on the eastbound platform as a sign of nostalgia.

Answer: 1969

The Victoria line was opened by Queen Elizabeth II who, as part of the opening ceremony, sat in the cab of a train and drove it. It was the first line to open in more than 50 years. The line is named after Victoria station (which is named for the street it is situated in, not after Queen Victoria) which lies roughly halfway between its northern terminus Walthamstow Central and its southern terminus, Brixton. 1969 is also the year Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong landed on the moon.

Answer: A woman gave birth

Daisy Hammond's daughter, Marie, was the first known baby to be born on the London Underground. It was another 84 years before the next recorded birth on the underground occurred when Julia Kowalska gave birth to her daughter Jennifer on the platform of Kingsbury station.

Answer: Harry Beck

Beck first submitted his map to the London underground in 1931 but it was thought to be inaccurate, mainly because the stations on the map were not plotted to scale and did not show distances. A year later, after Beck's persistence, 500 maps were issued as a trial. The trial proved to be successful and so in 1933 another 700,000 were released. London Underground however, failed to officially recognise Beck as the inspiration or creator of the map until 1997, 23 years after his death.

John Pemberton is the inventor of Coca-Cola, Tom Buchannan is a character in 'The Great Gatsby' and Charles W Fairbanks was Vice President under Theodore Roosevelt.

Answer: Leytonstone

Hitchcock was born in Leytonstone in 1899. The art works were commissioned in 1999, for what would have been his centenary year. The works are mosaics, made up of more than 80,000 pieces of tile. There is only one problem - they are displayed as exhibits, but line the walls leading to and from the platforms, so to stop and admire them in busy times is very difficult, and could get you a few rude and offensive comments from busy commuters.