Bennerley Viaduct is a former railway bridge, now a foot and cycle
bridge, in central England, between the town of Ilkeston, Derbyshire,
and the village of Awsworth, Nottinghamshire. It was completed in 1877
and opened in 1878 to carry the Great Northern Railway's Derbyshire
Extension over the valley of the River Erewash. The site required a
bespoke design as the ground would not support a traditional masonry
structure. The viaduct consists of 16 spans of lattice truss girders
made of wrought iron, carried on 15 wrought-iron piers supported by
brick and ashlar bases. It is 60 feet (18 m) high, 26 feet (7.9 m)
wide between the parapets, and over a quarter of a mile (400 metres)
long. It was once part of a chain of bridges and embankments carrying
the railway for 2 miles (3 km) across the valley. Its working life was
uneventful except for minor damage inflicted by a Zeppelin bombing raid
during World War I. It opened to the public as part of a cycling and
walking route in January 2022.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bennerley_Viaduct>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1878:
Gilbert and Sullivan's comic opera H.M.S. Pinafore (poster
featured) premiered at the Opera Comique in London.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H.M.S._Pinafore>
1955:
Joe Brown and George Band, members of the British Kangchenjunga
expedition, made the first ascent of the world's third-highest mountain
but deliberately did not set foot on the summit.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1955_British_Kangchenjunga_expedition>
1979:
During takeoff from O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, an
engine detached from American Airlines Flight 191, causing a crash that
killed 273 people, the deadliest aviation accident in United States
history.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Airlines_Flight_191>
2013:
Naxalite insurgents of the Communist Party of India (Maoist)
attacked a convoy of Indian National Congress leaders in the state of
Chhattisgarh, causing at least 27 deaths.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_Naxal_attack_in_Darbha_valley>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
glance:
1. (transitive)
2. To turn (one's eyes or look) at something, often briefly.
3. To look briefly at (something).
4. To cause (light) to gleam or sparkle.
5. (also figuratively) To cause (something) to move obliquely.
6. (ball games) To hit (a ball) lightly, causing it to move in another
direction.
7. (cricket) To hit (a ball) with a bat held in a slanted manner; also,
to play such a stroke against (the bowler).
8. (figuratively) To communicate (something) using the eyes.
9. (obsolete)
10. To touch (something) lightly or obliquely; to graze.
11. To make an incidental or passing reflection, often unfavourably, on
(a topic); also, to make (an incidental or passing reflection, often
unfavourable).
12. (intransitive)
13. (also figuratively) To strike and fly off in an oblique direction;
to dart aside.
14. (cricket) To hit a ball with a bat held in a slanted manner.
15. (ichthyology) Of certain juvenile fish, chiefly of the Cichlidae
family: to rapidly touch the side of its parent's body, usually to feed
on mucus.
16. Of light, etc.: to gleam, to sparkle.
17. Of a thing: to move in a way that catches light, and flash or
glitter.
18. (figuratively)
19. Often followed by at: of the eyes or a person: to look briefly.
20. Often followed by at: of a topic: to make an incidental or passing
reflection on, often unfavourably; to allude to; to hint at.
21. (obsolete)
22. Followed by by: to pass near without coming into contact.
23. To move quickly; to dart, to shoot. [...]
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/glance>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
We are all born with a mission, a purpose, that only we can
fulfill. When you live with a joyful sense of purpose, when you infuse
your life with a greater purpose beyond your individual self, every
aspect of your karma can become a brilliant facet of your mission. You
can transform sorrow and adversity of any sort into joy, stability,
health, and prosperity. By changing poison into medicine and
accomplishing your inner revolution, you can use every experience of
karma to encourage others who suffer from the same problems that you
overcame. You can become an ambassador of hope, an essential and
radiant treasure of humanity, in which you recognize that all who have
ever lived are members of your extended family. As you continue to
spread light in this way, actively doing good in the world, that energy
will come back to you in abundant positivity. When you refuse to
perpetuate any bad that has been done to you, you can free yourself from
the chains of negativity.
--Tina Turner
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Tina_Turner>