The Parachute Jump is a defunct amusement ride on the Riegelmann
Boardwalk in Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York City. Listed on the U.S.
National Register of Historic Places and protected as a New York City
designated landmark, it consists of a 250-foot-tall (76-meter), 170
-short-ton (150-metric-ton) open-frame, steel parachute tower. The ride
has twelve cantilever steel arms radiating from the top of the tower.
When it was in operation, riders were belted into a suspended two-person
canvas seat, lifted to the top, and dropped; a parachute and shock
absorbers slowed their descent. The jump was the tallest structure built
for the 1939 New York World's Fair at Flushing Meadows. The ride was
moved to its current location in 1941, where it operated until the
1960s, when the Steeplechase amusement park shut down. After a period of
neglect, the frame was restored and fitted with a light-show system in
2006.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parachute_Jump>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1873:
The Albert Bridge, spanning the River Thames in London, opened.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Bridge,_London>
1943:
Second World War: A decisive Soviet victory against German
forces at the Battle of Kursk gave the Red Army the strategic initiative
for the rest of the war.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Kursk>
2010:
A former Philippine National Police officer hijacked a tourist
bus in Manila and held its occupants hostage for nearly 11 hours before
being killed by police.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manila_hostage_crisis>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
limn:
1. (transitive, also figurative) To draw or paint; to delineate.
2. (transitive, obsolete) To illuminate, as a manuscript; to decorate
with gold or some other bright colour.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/limn>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
We must expect for a long time yet to see capitalists still
striving to obtain the highest possible profits. But observe, that the
passion for wealth is certainly in some senses new. It grew up very
rapidly at the beginning of the present century; it was not so strong in
the last century, when men were much more content to lead a quiet easy
life of leisure. The change has really influenced the relations between
men; but in the future it is quite possible that the scramble for wealth
may grow less intense, and a change in the opposite direction take
place.
--Arnold Toynbee
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Arnold_Toynbee>