20 July 1837: Euston station opens, central London’s first railway terminus

On this day in 1837, the London and Birmingham Railway company opened Euston station, its grand new terminus in central London.

The 19th century was the age of the railway. Fortunes were made and lost on the iron horses. Engineers became superstars in the rush to connect Britain's towns.

Britain's first main line was built by the London and Birmingham Railway company, founded in 1833. It was a huge infrastructure project, with Robert Stephenson, son of George Stephenson, as engineer-in-chief.

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Ben Judge

Ben studied modern languages at London University's Queen Mary College. After dabbling unhappily in local government finance for a while, he went to work for The Scotsman newspaper in Edinburgh. The launch of the paper's website, scotsman.com, in the early years of the dotcom craze, saw Ben move online to manage the Business and Motors channels before becoming deputy editor with responsibility for all aspects of online production for The Scotsman, Scotland on Sunday and the Edinburgh Evening News websites, along with the papers' Edinburgh Festivals website.

Ben joined MoneyWeek as website editor in 2008, just as the Great Financial Crisis was brewing. He has written extensively for the website and magazine, with a particular emphasis on alternative finance and fintech, including blockchain and bitcoin. 

As an early adopter of bitcoin, Ben bought when the price was under $200, but went on to spend it all on foolish fripperies.