Huguenots - French Protestants fleeing religious persecution - arrived in Brick Lane in the 17th century.
In 1724 Ben Truman established the Black Eagle Brewery at the junction with Hanbury Street. The brewery is closed now but the Trumans brand remains.
Dracula author Bram Stoker, presumably down on his luck, stayed in nearby Chicksand Street on his return to Britain from Transylvania.
The Huguenots gradually moved onwards and upwards and were replaced around the turn of the century by an influx of Jews, again fleeing persecution in Russia and eastern Europe.
Jack the Ripper territory
They arrived to find a slum of narrow alleyways and courtyards - several of Jack the Ripper's victims lived and died in the area - into which about a million people were crowded.
More Jews arrived from Germany during Hitler's reign but they prospered and many moved out to other parts of London.
Vestiges of the Jewish community remain, such as a 24-hour bagel bakery.
In the 1920s the area began to see a new wave of immigrants, overwhelmingly Bengali seamen and their families.
More came in the 1960s and 1970s as civil war and political violence damaged their homeland. By the late 1970s the area had been transformed and the rising tension between Bangladeshis and whites often broke into violence.
Conflict with NF
In 1979 the Anti-Nazi League succeeded in closing down a National Front office which had set up in Brick Lane.
But by the 1990s racial tensions had died down and police and council leaders said community relations were good. The area had recently been renamed Bangla Town.
Brick Lane has even become de rigeur among young professionals and City folk looking for a cheap London property.
The Guardian's architecture correspondent, Jonathan Glancey, said last year thre was a danger of Brick Lane becoming "embourgeoised", like Battersea and Notting Hill before it.
Northern Ireland
Scotland
Wales
England
Several hurt in London car bomb
(24 Apr 99 | UK)
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Next steps for peace
Blairs' surprise over baby
Bowled over by Lord's
Beef row 'compromise' under fire
Hamilton 'would sell mother'
Industry misses new trains target
Quins fightback shocks Cardiff
(From Sport)
Vodafone takeover battle heats up
(From Business)
IRA ceasefire challenge rejected
Thousands celebrate Asian culture
Christie could get two-year ban
(From Sport)
Colleagues remember Compo
(From Entertainment)
Mother pleads for baby's return
Toys withdrawn in E.coli health scare
Nurses role set to expand
(From Health)
Israeli PM's plane in accident
More lottery cash for grassroots
Pro-lifers plan shock launch
Double killer gets life
Cold 'cure' comes one step closer
(From Health)
Straw on trial over jury reform
(From UK Politics)
Tatchell calls for rights probe into Mugabe
Ex-spy stays out in the cold
Blair warns Livingstone
(From UK Politics)
Smear equipment `misses cancers'
(From Health)
Boyzone star gets in Christmas spirit
(From Entertainment)
Fake bubbly warning
Murder jury hears dead girl's diary
Germ warfare fiasco revealed
(From UK Politics)
Blair babe triggers tabloid frenzy
Tourists shot by mistake
A new look for News Online