Short answers, pulled from the story.
Queen Elizabeth I officially opened the Royal Exchange on the 23rd of January 1571. She granted it the title Royal and issued a licence allowing the sale of alcohol and valuable goods within its walls.
An overheated stove caused a massive fire on the 10th of January 1838 that destroyed the entire building. The blaze was so intense it could be seen from Windsor Castle.
Sir William Tite won a competition in 1839-40 to design the third version of the Exchange. His design preserved the four-sided layout surrounding a central courtyard where traders could conduct business.
According to legend, the chirps of a real grasshopper once led to the discovery of a foundling child who became the ancestor of Sir Thomas Gresham. The current weathervane measures three feet long and was rescued from the fire of 1838.
Twenty-four scenes depicting key moments in London history appeared on the first-floor walls starting from 1892. Artists including Sir Frederic Leighton, Sir Frank Brangwyn, and Stanhope Forbes painted these murals as a continuous sequence.