Battersea Bridge is a cast iron and granite five-span cantilever bridge crossing the River Thames in London, England. It is situated on a sharp bend in the river, and links Battersea south of the river with Chelsea to the north. The bridge replaced a ferry service that had operated near the site since at least the 16th century. The first Battersea Bridge was a toll bridge commissioned by John, Earl Spencer. A poor design by Henry Holland made the bridge unpopular and dangerous both to its users and to passing shipping. Although boats often collided with it, the bridge was the last surviving wooden bridge on the Thames in London, and was the subject of paintings by many significant artists such as J. M. W. Turner, John Sell Cotman and James McNeill Whistler, including Whistler's controversial and influential Nocturne: Blue and Gold – Old Battersea Bridge. In 1879 the bridge was taken into public ownership, and in 1885 demolished and replaced with the existing bridge, designed by Sir Joseph Bazalgette and built by John Mowlem & Co. The narrowest surviving road bridge over the Thames in London, it is one of London's least busy Thames bridges. The location on a bend in the river makes the bridge a hazard to shipping, and it has been closed many times due to collisions.

Read the rest of this article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battersea_Bridge

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1778:

France and the United States signed the Treaty of Alliance and the Treaty of Amity and Commerce, establishing military and commercial ties respectively between the two nations. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Alliance_%281778%29

1806:

Napoleonic Wars: When squadrons of British and French ships of the line engaged in the Battle of San Domingo in the Caribbean Sea, the French ships Impérial and Diomède ran aground to avoid capture, but were caught and destroyed anyway. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_San_Domingo

1959:

Jack Kilby, an engineer at Texas Instruments, filed a patent application for the first integrated circuit. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/integrated_circuit

1987:

Mary Gaudron was appointed as the first female Justice of the High Court of Australia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Gaudron

2000:

Second Chechen War: Russia captured Grozny, the capital of Chechnya, forcing the separatist Chechen government into exile. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Grozny_%281999%E2%80%932000%29

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

living impaired (adj): {{humorous http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/living_impaired

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it on to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same... --Ronald Reagan http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ronald_Reagan