In 1810, a 22-year-old London prankster named Theodore Hook bet a friend he could make any house the most talked-about address in the city. He spent six weeks sending thousands of letters summoning tradespeople and dignitaries to 54 Berners Street. On the appointed day, chimney sweeps arrived at dawn, followed by hundreds of coal wagons, bakers with wedding cakes, piano deliveries, the Governor of the Bank of England, the Duke of Gloucester, and the Lord Mayor in full regalia. Hook watched from a window across the street and was never caught.