The 20th Century was a difficult period for London. The city entered the century as an influential capital of the largest empire in history, yet suffered bomb attacks by dirigibles (Zeppelins) during the First World War, which killed almost 1,000 people. Unfortunately, this only foreshadowed what was to come.

During the period between the two World Wars, London expanded even further due to suburban development, and suffered from skyrocketing unemployment during the Great Depression. When the Second World War broke out in 1939, London’s population peaked at 8.6 million. The city suffered extensive damage during the war, with the East End Docklands hit the hardest. Some 35,000 Londoners died in the war, and 50,000 injured.

London’s Wembley Stadium hosted the Summer Olympics in 1948, when the city began to recuperate from the war. But housing was a major problem in the post-war years, as most of the tenement buildings had been destroyed. Authorities introduced a policy encouraging people to move into new towns near London.

In the 1960s, rock bands, such as the Beatles and Rolling Stones, transformed London into an international centre of youth culture. The city found itself in the same role with the Brit Pop trend of the 1990s.

The city has been targeted by both the Irish Republican Army (IRA) and al-Queda. The city was the object of numerous attacks by the IRA throughout the second half of the 20th Century. On July 6, 2005, London was selected to host the 2012 Olympic Games, but the joy was short lived, as the next day over 50 Londoners were killed and 700 wounded in four bombings on the subway and aboard a double-decker bus in the city. These attacks were attributed to al-Queda.

The population of greater London dropped from 8.6 million in 1939 to 6.8 million in the 1980s. However, after the 80s, the population began to steadily climb, encouraged by the flourishing economy. Many ‘millennium projects’ were launched in London at the turn of the 21st Century, which included the exhibition venue, the Millennium Dome, and the 450-ft Ferris Wheel, the Millennium Wheel or the London Eye, both celebrating the coming of a new age. The Millennium Wheel was first intended as a temporary structure, but became permanent, drawing four million visitors per year. It is estimated that the population of London will reach 8.1 million by 2016 and continue to rise thereafter.