The Old Exe Bridge is a ruined medieval bridge in Exeter, England. Built
from around 1190 and completed by 1214, it is the oldest surviving
bridge of its size in England and the oldest bridge in Britain with a
chapel on it. The project was the idea of influential local merchants
Nicholas and Walter Gervase, father and son. The bridge was at least 590
feet (180 metres) long and probably had 17 or 18 arches, carrying the
road across the flood plain of the River Exe. St Edmund's Church, the
bridge chapel, was built into the bridge at the time of its
construction. Later all but the central section carried buildings. The
bridge collapsed and had to be partially rebuilt several times but
remained in use for almost 600 years, until a replacement was built in
1778 and the arches across the river were demolished. In 1969 eight and
a half arches of the medieval bridge were uncovered and restored. The
bridge's remains are a scheduled monument and a Grade II listed
building.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Exe_Bridge>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1877:
The Constantinople Conference concluded with the Great Powers
declaring the need for political reforms, which the Ottoman Empire
refused to undertake, later resulting in the Russo-Turkish War.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constantinople_Conference>
1942:
The Holocaust: Reinhard Heydrich and other senior Nazi
officials met at the Wannsee Conference near Berlin to discuss the
implementation of the "Final Solution to the Jewish Question".
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wannsee_Conference>
1992:
Air Inter Flight 148 crashed into the Vosges while circling to
land at Strasbourg Airport, France, resulting in 87 deaths.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_Inter_Flight_148>
2009:
In Washington, D.C., more than one million people attended the
inauguration of Barack Obama as the first African-American president of
the United States.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_inauguration_of_Barack_Obama>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
acquit:
1. (transitive) To declare or find innocent or not guilty.
2. (transitive) To discharge (for example, a claim or debt); to clear
off, to pay off; to fulfil.
3. (transitive) Followed by of (and formerly by from): to discharge,
release, or set free from a burden, duty, liability, or obligation, or
from an accusation or charge.
4. (reflexive) To bear or conduct oneself; to perform one's part.
5. (reflexive) To clear oneself.
6. (transitive, archaic) past participle of acquit.
7. (transitive, obsolete) To release, to rescue, to set free.
8. (transitive, obsolete, rare) To pay for; to atone for.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/acquit>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
One change of attitude would change everything. If everyone
realized that it could be a beautiful world and said let's not do these
things anymore — let's have fun.
--David Lynch
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/David_Lynch>