Luton (town)

Industrial town and administrative centre of Luton unitary authority situated in south central England, at the northern end of a river gap in the Chiltern hills, 48 km/30 mi north of London; population (2001) 185,550. Luton international airport is a secondary airport for London.

History
Luton was known as Lygetune by the Saxons, and appeared in the Domesday Book (1086) as Loitoine. By the late 20th century the town spanned 44 sq km/17 sq mi, but for centuries Luton was a small farming community and then a tiny market town, until the early 19th century when the development of the straw-hat industry helped transform Luton into a factory town. It was incorporated as a municipal borough in 1876. The decline in the straw-hat industry in the 20th century was balanced by a rise in new industries, particularly in engineering. Luton became a county borough in 1964, with extended boundaries. In 1974 it became a district of the county of Bedfordshire.