Piccadilly Circus is a plaza and traffic intersection in the West End in the City of Westminster, London, United Kingdom, near Soho and Theatreland. It is renowned for its video display and neon signs in the northwestern corner, as well as the Shaftesbury memorial fountain and statue known as The Angel of Christian Charity or Eros. It is surrounded by several noted buildings, including the London Pavilion and Criterion Theatre. Directly underneath the plaza is the London Underground station Piccadilly Circus. Built in 1819 to connect Regent Street with the major shopping street of Piccadilly (the "circus" refers to "circular open space at a street junction"), it now links directly to the theatres on Shaftesbury Avenue as well as the Haymarket, Coventry Street (onwards to Leicester Square) and Glasshouse Street. Its proximity to major shopping and entertainment areas, its central location at the heart of the West End, and its status as a major traffic intersection have made Piccadilly Circus a busy meeting point and a tourist attraction in its own right.

Read the rest of this article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piccadilly_Circus

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1900: Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom gave royal assent to an act creating the Commonwealth of Australia, thus uniting separate colonies on the continent under one federal government. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commonwealth_of_Australia)

1922: Johnny Weissmuller swam the 100 meters freestyle in 58.6 seconds, breaking a world swimming record and the 'minute barrier'. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Weissmuller)

1942: Holocaust: Anne Frank's family went into hiding in an attic above her father's office in an Amsterdam warehouse. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Frank)

2002: The African Union was established in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_Union)

_____________________ Wikiquote of the day:

"God never deserted our people. Right through the ages there were Jews. Through the ages they suffered, but it also made us strong." -- Anne Frank (http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Anne_Frank)