In 1682 former diplomat George Downing saw a chance to make his fortune.

BBC: 7 questions on street names

But these boundaries have been blurred at least since 1929, when Ramsay Macdonald put George Steward in Downing Street with orders to cultivate selected journalists and so counter the bias of the Tory press barons.

ECONOMIST: Bagehot

Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg since she was catapulted onto the global stage, but perhaps none so strange as one told at the U.K. launch party for her book, "Lean In, " hosted by British Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne at his official residence in Downing Street this week.

WSJ: Sandberg Wins Admirers, But What Will Come Next?

When they moved into Downing Street in 2010, David Cameron was 43 and George Osborne, the chancellor of the exchequer, was 38.

ECONOMIST: Bagehot: Generation Xhausted | The