Albert Bridge is a Grade II* listed road bridge over the River Thames in London, connecting Chelsea to Battersea. Designed and built by Rowland Mason Ordish in 1873 as a toll bridge, it was commercially unsuccessful; six years after its opening it was taken into public ownership and the tolls were lifted. The Ordish–Lefeuvre Principle design proved structurally unsound, and thus between 1884 and 1887 it was modified to incorporate elements of a suspension bridge. The Greater London Council carried out further strengthening work in 1973 by adding two concrete piers, which transformed the central span into a simple beam bridge. As a result of these modifications the bridge is an unusual hybrid of three different bridge types. The strengthening works were unable to prevent further deterioration as the result of heavy traffic loads and rotting of the timber deck structure caused by the urine of the unusually high number of dogs using the bridge. In 2010–2011 the bridge underwent major refurbishment work. Although often proposed for closure or demolition, it is one of only two Thames road bridges in central London never to have been replaced.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Bridge,_London

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1873:

The Albert Bridge, spanning the River Thames in London, opened. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Bridge,_London

1929:

Palestine riots: Arabs began attacking Jews in Hebron in the British Mandate of Palestine, killing over sixty people in two days. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1929_Hebron_massacre

1943:

World War II: The decisive Soviet victory in 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

1989:

Singing Revolution: Approximately two million people joined hands to form an over 600 km (370 mi) long human chain across the Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian Soviet republics to demonstrate their respective desires for independence. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baltic_Way

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

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

malleate: To beat into shape with a hammer. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/malleate

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

You may think, passer-by, that Fate Is a pit-fall outside of yourself, Around which you may walk by the use of foresight And wisdom. ... In time you shall see Fate approach you In the shape of your own image in the mirror; Or you shall sit alone by your own hearth, And suddenly the chair by you shall hold a guest, And you shall know that guest, And read the authentic message of his eyes.   --Edgar Lee Masters https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Edgar_Lee_Masters