London is one of the world’s cultural capitals—and it has been for centuries. Though the city first got its start as a Roman colony (called Londinium—big surprise), it now serves as a paragon of English culture and international influence.
When people visit the city, they’re usually focused on exploring culture. That might mean wandering around the city to see its greatest architectural feats, meandering through its most celebrated museums, or even shopping around at its world-famous stores.
Given the city’s longstanding, millennia-long history, there’s a focus on the past. And that makes sense—especially when you take a closer look at historical trends. A few of London’s quirky specialities and stand-out experiences have since spread around the world, slowly evolving into border-crossing trends.
While you might be thinking of pastimes like football, musical trends like punk rock, and even gastronomical trends like East-meets-West fusion foods, there’s a lot more going on. Want to take a closer look at London’s impact? Here are three of the most unique and modern trends that originated in The Big Smoke.
Social Clubs (& Casinos)
Once upon a time, some of London’s fanciest and wealthiest residents gathered together in small, fancy clubs. Starting at the end of the 1600s, these original gentleman’s clubs began popping up around the city. Their focus was on bringing together professionals of similar origins, along with those with similar spending habits.
Over the next few hundred years, these social clubs started to evolve. Many took on added features, including offering table games like Basset and Faro. While you might not have heard about Faro, this game eventually traveled west into the Americas where it evolved into poker.
That’s right—London’s first social clubs helped pave the way for this popular card game. Estimates place the current number of poker players as high as 100 million globally. Players these days might show up to compete in live tournaments like the European Poker Tour or stick to virtual platforms like PokerStars that let them game online.
While modern poker looks different than Renaissance-era Faro, the connection here is highly intriguing. One could make the argument that these early social clubs paved the way for this highly popular modern game.
Table Tennis
Let’s shift away from the austere era of social clubs. Not all of London’s cultural influences have been so high and mighty, after all. Back in the late 1800s, there was a brand new sport sweeping through the city: table tennis. And they weren’t playing with plastic ping pong balls.
Instead, table tennis involved cigar boxes turned into makeshift paddles, books stacked to create nets, and mini cork balls rounded into spheres. And just like Faro, it was the subject of upper-class players looking for a bit of after-dinner fun. For years, it remained a hobbyist sport.
The table tennis fad evolved during the Victorian Era, slowly spreading out of the city and into neighboring countries like Ireland and France. But it wasn’t until the 1970s that table tennis took off as a bona fide sport—one that would eventually be inducted into the Olympics in 1988.
Art Museums
There’s great debate on which art museum was the first to set up shop around the world—and even what qualifies as an art museum. Some cite the Basel Kunst Museum as the very first (opened in 1661), while others point back to a private collection of goods in the Ancient Babylonian capital of Ur.
But one possibility is Oxford’s Ashmolean Museum, which set up shop in 1671. While it wasn’t located inside London and might be a decade behind the Basel Kunst Museum, there’s no doubt that modern-day London carries the legacy of this early project. The city is home to dozens of famous museums that visitors pack into year after year.
Some focus on culture and history, including the Natural History Museum and the British Museum. Others are more geared toward science, like the aptly named Science Museum, or art, like the Tate Modern and National Gallery.
