Early life and family background.

Whitman was born Christine Temple Todd, the daughter of Eleanor Prentice Todd (née Schley) and businessman Webster B. Todd, both involved in Republican politics. Both the Todds and the Schleys were wealthy and prominent New Jersey political families. Her mother's family were among the first New Yorkers to move to what became Far Hills, which by the time of Christine's childhood had become a magnet for wealthy, moderate Republicans. Her maternal grandfather, Reeve Schley, was a member of Wolf's Head Society at Yale and the vice president of Chase Bank. He was also a longtime president of the Russian-American Chamber of Commerce.  Christine's father amassed a fortune from working as a building contractor on projects including Rockefeller Center and Radio City Music Hall. Webster used his wealth to donate to Republican politicians, and became an advisor to Dwight D. Eisenhower. Her mother Eleanor served as a Republican national committeewoman and led the New Jersey Federation of Republican Women.  Christine was born in New York City but grew up on the family farm, Pontefract, in Oldwick, New Jersey. On the farm, Christine grew up riding horses and fishing. She has three older siblings including her brothers, Webster and Danny. Her parents were politically active, taking Christine to her first political convention in 1956 for the renomination of Dwight D. Eisenhower. Her mother's political activity caused a newspaper to speculate that she could be a viable candidate for governor, although Eleanor never chose to run for office. As a child she attended Far Hills Country Day School before being sent to boarding school at Foxcroft in Virginia. Christine disliked being so far away from home and after a year transferred to the Chapin School in Manhattan, allowing her to return home on the weekends. After graduating from Wheaton College in 1968, earning a bachelor of arts degree in government, she worked for Nelson Rockefeller's presidential campaign.  At a 1973 inaugural ball for Richard Nixon, Christine had her first date with John R. Whitman, an old friend she had met while a student at Chapin. The pair married the next year. Whitman was a businessman and an investment banker; he was also the grandson of early 20th-century Governor of New York Charles S. Whitman.

Early career.

During the Nixon administration, Whitman worked for the Office of Economic Opportunity under Donald Rumsfeld. She conducted a national outreach tour for the Republican National Committee, was deputy director of the New York State Office in Washington, and worked on aging issues for the Nixon campaign and administration. John's job with Citicorp required the family to move to England for three years. When the family returned to the United States, Christine stayed home with the couple's two children, although she did remain active in Somerset County Republican politics.  Whitman was appointed to the board of trustees of Somerset County College (later renamed Raritan Valley Community College). Elected to two terms on the Somerset County Board of Chosen Freeholders, she served as deputy director and director of the board. Among her accomplishments was construction of a new county courthouse. From 1988 to 1990, she served as president of the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities under governor Thomas Kean.  In 1990, Whitman ran for the U.S. Senate against incumbent Bill Bradley, losing a close election. She was considered an underdog against the popular Bradley. During her campaign, Whitman criticized the income tax hike proposed by then governor James Florio. Bradley did not take a stance on the issue.  In 1993, Whitman helped to found the Committee for Responsible Government, an advocacy group espousing moderate positions in the Republican Party. In 1997, the CRG softened its pro-choice position, and renamed itself as the Republican Leadership Council.

Governorship.

Whitman ran against incumbent James Florio for governor in 1993, and defeated him by one percentage point to become the first female governor in New Jersey history. She was the second woman and first Republican woman to defeat an incumbent governor in a general election, but was unable to gain a majority of the votes, winning by a plurality. Charges of suppression of minority votes were raised during the campaign. Two days after the election, Ed Rollins, Whitman's campaign manager, bragged about having spent $500,000 to suppress the black vote. Whitman denied Rollins's claim and demanded an apology and a retraction. An investigation into Rollins's claim found no wrongdoing.  Whitman pledged during the campaign that she would lower state taxes by 10% a year for three years. Once in office, she kept the campaign promise, and lowered income taxes. The decline in the tax burden made it likely that the issue of tax revenue shortfall would be addressed later. Jim Saxton, in a report to the federal congress, argued that New Jersey's income tax cuts improved "the well-being of the New Jersey family", and would not lead to an increase in property taxes. Saxton cited Tim Goodspeed's research and a recent paper published by the Manhattan Institute. He admitted that "a few localities raised [property] taxes", as expected by Goodspeed, but both Saxton and Goodspeed counted on the flypaper effect to mitigate any broad or persistent increases. However, the resulting long-term deficit could not be easily reversed, and subsequent governors ran into difficulties with the cumulative revenue losses and interest payments on the debt the state government issued.  In 1995, Whitman was criticized for saying that young African-American males sometimes played a game known as "jewels in the crown", which she claimed had as its intent having as many children as possible out of wedlock. Whitman subsequently apologized, and voiced her opposition to attempts by Congressional Republicans to bar unwed teenage mothers from receiving welfare payments.  Also in 1995, the Republican party selected Whitman to deliver the party's State of the Union response. She became the first woman to deliver a State of the Union response by herself; this was also the first State of the Union response given to a live audience.  In 1996, Whitman rejected the Advisory Council's recommendation to spend tax money on a needle exchange to reduce incidence of HIV infections.  Whitman was re-elected in 1997, narrowly defeating Jim McGreevey, the mayor of Woodbridge Township, who criticized Whitman's record on property taxes and automobile insurance rates. McGreevey also criticized Whitman for allowing a private sector company to administer the vehicle inspection program. In the 1997 election, the early prediction was that Whitman, as an incumbent, would have an easy win. The result, however, was that Whitman duplicated her 1993 election with only a one-point victory and a plurality of the votes. Murray Sabrin, a college professor who ran as a Libertarian candidate, and finished third with five percent of the vote, received votes mostly from conservative Republicans who might otherwise have voted for Whitman.  In 1997, she repealed the one percentage-point increase to the state sales tax that her predecessor Governor Florio had imposed, reducing the rate from 7% to 6%, instituted education reforms, and removed excise taxes on professional wrestling, which led the World Wrestling Federation to resume events in New Jersey. In 1999, Whitman vetoed a bill that outlawed partial birth abortion. The veto was overridden, but the statute was subsequently declared unconstitutional by the judiciary. In 1999, she made a cameo appearance on the television show "".  In 1999, Whitman fired Colonel Carl A. Williams, head of the New Jersey State Police, after he was quoted as saying that cocaine and marijuana traffickers were often members of minority groups, while the methamphetamine trade was controlled primarily by white biker gangs.  In 2000, under Whitman's leadership, New Jersey's violation of the federal one-hour air quality standard for ground level ozone dropped to 4 from 45 in 1988. Beach closings reached a record low, and the Natural Resources Defense Council recognized New Jersey for instituting the most comprehensive beach monitoring system in the country. New Jersey implemented a new watershed management program, and became a national leader in opening shellfish beds for harvesting. Whitman agreed to give tax money to owners of one million acres (4,000 km2) or more of open space and farmland in New Jersey.  When Democratic Senator Frank Lautenberg announced that he would not seek re-election in 2000, Whitman considered running, but ultimately decided not to.  According to "The New York Times", Whitman "seemed to be on a short list of vice presidential candidates in 2000, right up until July 8, 2000 – days before the opening of the Republican National Convention in Philadelphia – when a four-year-old photograph surfaced showing an oddly smiling Governor Whitman, surrounded by law enforcement agents, frisking a black drug suspect on a street in Camden". In 1996, Whitman had joined a New Jersey State Police patrol in Camden, New Jersey. During the patrol, the officers stopped a 16-year-old African American male named Sherron Rolax and frisked him. The police did not find any contraband on Rolax's person, but Whitman frisked the youth as well. A state trooper photographed the act. In 2000, the image of the smiling governor frisking Rolax was published in newspapers statewide, drawing criticism from civil rights leaders who saw the incident as a violation of Rolax's civil rights and an endorsement of racial profiling by Whitman (especially since Rolax was not arrested or charged). Whitman later told the press that she regretted the incident, and pointed to her efforts in 1999 to oppose the New Jersey State Police force's racial profiling practices. In 2001, Rolax learned about the photograph and sued Whitman in federal court, claiming that the search was illegal and constituted an invasion of privacy. The appeals court agreed that the act did suggest "an intentional violation" of Rolax's rights, and that he "was detained and used for political purposes by his governor", but upheld the trial court's decision that it was too late to sue. Then-Republican presidential candidate George W. Bush selected Dick Cheney as his running mate in the 2000 presidential election.

EPA Administrator.

Whitman was appointed by President George W. Bush as Administrator of the United States Environmental Protection Agency, taking office on January 31, 2001.  In the final weeks of the Clinton administration in January 2001, the administration ratified a new drinking water standard of 0.01 mg/L (10 parts per billion, or ppb) of arsenic, to take effect in January 2006. The old drinking water standard of 0.05 mg/L (equal to 50 ppb) arsenic had been in effect since 1942, and the EPA, since the late 1980s, had weighed the pros and cons of lowering the maximum contaminant level (MCL) of arsenic. The incoming Bush administration suspended the midnight regulation, but after months of research, the EPA approved the new 10 ppb arsenic standard to take effect in January 2006 as initially planned.  In 2001, the EPA produced a report detailing the expected effects of global warming in each state in the country. President Bush dismissed the report as the work of "the bureaucracy."  Whitman appeared twice in New York City after the September 11 attacks to inform New Yorkers that the toxins released by the attacks posed no threat to their health. On September 18, the EPA released a report in which Whitman said, "Given the scope of the tragedy from last week, I am glad to reassure the people of New York and Washington, D.C. that their air is safe to breathe and their water is safe to drink." She also said, "The concentrations are such that they don't pose a health hazard...We're going to make sure everybody is safe." A 2003 report by the EPA's Inspector General determined that the assurance was misleading, because the EPA "did not have sufficient data and analyses" to justify it.  A report in July 2003 by the EPA Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response gave extensive documentation supporting many of the inspector general's conclusions. The report further found that the White House had "convinced EPA to add reassuring statements and delete cautionary ones" by having the National Security Council control EPA communications after the September 11 attacks. In December 2007, legal proceedings began on the responsibility of government officials in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks. Whitman was among the defendants. The plaintiffs alleged that Whitman was at fault for saying that the downtown New York air was safe in the aftermath of the attacks. In April 2008, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit overruled the district court, holding that as EPA administrator, Whitman could not be held liable for assuring the World Trade Center area residents that the air was safe for breathing after the buildings collapsed. The court ruled that Whitman had based her statement on contradictory information from President Bush. The U.S. Department of Justice had argued that holding the agency liable would establish a risky legal precedent because such holding would make public officials afraid of making public statements.  On June 27, 2003, after having several public conflicts with the Bush administration, Whitman resigned.  In an interview in 2007, Whitman stated that Vice President Dick Cheney's insistence on easing air pollution controls, not the personal reasons she cited at the time, led to her resignation. At the time, Cheney pushed the EPA to institute a new rule allowing power plants to make major alterations without installing costly new pollution controls. Whitman stepped down in protest against such demand by the White House, she said. She decided that because she did not agree with the rule, she would not be able to defend it if it were to be challenged in a legal action. The federal court eventually overturned the rule on the ground that it violated the Clean Air Act.  In 2016, Whitman apologized for the first time for her declaration a week after 9/11 that the air in lower Manhattan was safe to breathe.

Subsequent career.

Political activism.

In early 2005, Whitman released a book entitled "It's My Party, Too: Taking Back the Republican Party... And Bringing the Country Together Again" in which she criticizes the policies of the George W. Bush administration and its electoral strategy, which she views as divisive.  The last chapter of that book, entitled "A Time for Radical Moderates", speaks to radical centrists across the political spectrum.  Whitman formed a political action committee called It's My Party Too (IMP-PAC), to assist electoral campaigns of moderate Republicans at all levels of government. IMP-PAC is allied with the Republican Main Street Partnership, The Wish List, the Republican Majority for Choice, Republicans for Choice, Republicans for Environmental Protection and the Log Cabin Republicans. After the 2006 midterm elections, IMP-PAC was merged into RLC-PAC, the Republican Leadership Council's PAC.  Whitman runs the Whitman Strategy Group, an energy lobby organization which claims to be "a governmental relations consulting firm specializing in environmental and energy issues."  In February 2013, Whitman supported legal recognition of same-sex marriage in an amicus brief to the U.S. Supreme Court.  In 2016, Whitman was named the Co-Chair of the Joint Ocean Commission Initiative.  On February 26, 2016 she endorsed John Kasich in his bid seeking the GOP nomination for presidential candidate. She said that Donald Trump was using fascist tactics in his campaign and after Chris Christie's endorsement of Trump said that, in the case of a Trump nomination by the GOP, she would vote for Hillary Clinton. Whitman is a member of the ReFormers Caucus of Issue One. The group, which included Bill Bradley and 100 other former elected officials advocated for campaign finance reform.  In February 2020, Christie Whitman endorsed former Massachusetts Governor Bill Weld for President in the New Hampshire Republican primary. Former Governor Weld is the only high profile Republican challenging President Trump in the primaries.  On May 19, 2012, Whitman was presented with an honorary degree from Washington & Jefferson College.

Corporate activity.

Since 2003, Whitman has been on the board of directors of Texas Instruments and United Technologies. Whitman is also co-chair of the CASEnergy Coalition, and in 2007, voiced support for a stronger future role of nuclear power in the United States. Whitman joined the board of the American Security Project in April 2010. By 2015 she served as chairperson of the board of directors. In 2011, Whitman was named to the board of Americans Elect.

Personal life.

While governor, Whitman used Pontefract, the family farm on which she was raised, as her primary residence. Whitman had purchased the property in 1991 following the death of her mother.  With her late husband, Whitman has two children: daughter Kate and son Taylor. Kate has followed her mother into politics, including an unsuccessful run for the U.S. House of Representatives and having worked as a Congressional aide. In 2007, Kate was named executive director of the Republican Leadership Council, her mother's organization which promotes moderate Republicanism. Whitman has seven grandchildren.  Whitman's hobbies have included mountain biking, playing football, and trapshooting. Whitman also had a Scottish Terrier named Coors (now deceased), who is the mother of former president George W. Bush's dog Barney.  Whitman has been a resident of Tewksbury Township, New Jersey.

Christine Todd Whitman (born September 26, 1946) is an American Republican politician and author who served as the 50th Governor of New Jersey, from 1994 to 2001, and as Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency in the administration of President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2003. She is the first woman elected governor of New Jersey.

Christine Todd Whitman, née le à New York, est une femme politique américaine membre du Parti républicain. Elle est la première femme et gouverneure du New Jersey entre 1994 et 2001. Elle démissionne de son mandat à cette dernière date pour devenir administratrice de l'Agence de protection de l'environnement des États-Unis durant la présidence de George W. Bush, poste qu’elle occupe jusqu’en 2003.


Site.

48 Wall Street is located at the northeast corner of Wall and William Streets, facing Wall Street to the south and William Street to the west. The building has a frontage of on Wall Street and on William Street. The lot is largely rectangular with small variations. 55 Wall Street is across Wall Street immediately to the south; 40 Wall Street is across William Street to the west; and 52 William Street and 60 Wall Street share the block directly to the north and east, respectively.  The site slopes downward to the south, with the Wall Street side being slightly lower than the northern portion of the lot. As such, the Wall Street side is at the same elevation as the lobby on the 1st floor (which was designed like a basement), while the banking room on the second floor is slightly higher than William Street. This positioning probably reflected bank architect Alfred Hopkins's advice that a bank on a slope allowed "a better view of the bank's interior" and that a partially-above-ground basement provided better ventilation for the departments housed there. Immediately outside the building's southeastern corner is the entrance for the Wall Street station on the New York City Subway's Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line (served by the ).

Design.

48 Wall Street is a skyscraper designed in the neo-Georgian style, with adaptations from the Colonial Revival style. In the 1920s, at the time of 48 Wall Street's construction, new bank buildings in New York City were typically one of two types: small buildings used solely for banking and large bank-and-office buildings that incorporated banks at their bases. Though there were roughly equal numbers of both types of building, large bank-and-office buildings were typically erected on plots with high land values, such as in the Financial District. Though many contemporary bank buildings still used the Greek Revival and Renaissance Revival styles, which were popular before World War I, other buildings like 48 Wall Street tried out new styles, such as neo-Romanesque and neo-Georgian styles.

Form.

At the time of 48 Wall Street's construction, the 1916 Zoning Resolution necessitated the inclusion of setbacks on buildings in New York City that were above a certain height. As such, setbacks were added above the 14th, 20th, 25th, 26th, 30th, and 32nd floors. The eastern elevation of the building, which faces 60 Wall Street, is recessed above the 14th story, while the northern elevation facing 52 William Street is recessed above the 20th story. The eastern portion of the southern elevation (facing Wall Street) has setbacks on the 14th, 19th, 26th, 29th, and 32nd floors, and the northern portion of the western elevation (facing William Street) has a setback above the 28th story.

Facade.

The facade is arranged so that the lowest stories are clad with granite and the upper stories are faced with limestone. A large-scale program of ornamentation was used on the facade, inspired by formal Georgian models. Due to the narrow street grid of the Financial District, the surrounding skyscrapers obstruct the view of the building from many angles; as a result, most of the ornamentation is at the base, where the banking room is. All ornamentation and windows are on the western and southern elevations. The eastern and northern elevations are completely windowless with stucco walls.  The section of 48 Wall Street below the first setback is 14 stories tall: this is divided into a three-story base, a nine-story midsection, and two upper stories. The base is three stories tall with rusticated granite blocks, though the rustication on the 1st story is deeper than on the 2nd and 3rd stories. The main banking entrance to 48 Wall Street is at the center of the Wall Street facade, while the main entrance to the office stories is located on the eastern section of that same facade. Both Wall Street entrances have a protruding entryway surround, which is topped by a pediment: the banking entrance has a segmental-arch broken pediment capped by a lantern with glass globe, and the office entrance is simpler with two panels reading and. Another elaborate entrance with a neo-Georgian surround is located on the northern end of the William Street facade (with the address 46 William Street), while a simple service entrance is located next to it. Another simple entrance to the 1st-floor retail area is at the southern end of the William Street facade. The base also incorporates two cornerstones from the previous buildings on the site, both dating from 1797: one from the Bank of New York's structure 48 Wall Street, and the other from the United States Branch Bank Building's structure at 52 Wall Street.  The 1st and 2nd stories contain five vertical bays on Wall Street and eight on William Street, each of which contain one window. The windows illuminating the double-height 2nd-floor banking room are large arched windows, except the outermost windows on each side, which are smaller rectangular windows beneath decorative metal grilles. Above the 2nd-floor windows are ornamented keystones. The 3rd story is arranged with 10 bays on Wall Street, arranged in groupings of 2, 6, and 2, as well as with 14 bays on William Street, arranged in groupings of 1, 4, 4, 4 and 1. Above the 3rd floor is an elaborate cornice. The inscribed letters are located below the cornice on Wall Street. There are flagpoles above two of the arched 2nd-story windows on the Wall Street side, and another flagpole above the center of the 3rd story on the same facade.  The mid-section of the building includes eleven stories between the 4th and 14th floors, which are divided into bays separated by piers. The 4th and 14th floors are arranged as "transitional stories" that contain courses atop and below the facades of both stories. The 3rd through 14th stories are each arranged with 10 bays on Wall Street, in a 2-6-2 pattern, and 14 bays on William Street, in a 1-4-4-4-1 pattern. The outermost groupings of bays on each facade are distinguished by a pattern of textured and smooth blocks beside each bay. Above the 14th story is a decorative frieze.  The first setback is at the 14th story, but a four-bay-wide dormer projects from the southern elevation at the 15th story. On the western elevation, the center four bays are recessed and rise uninterrupted until the setback on the 26th story. There is little decoration, except for vertical bands and recessed panels that provide accenting, as well as other symbols such as wreaths and roundels. Some of the balustrades above each setback are also decorated with urns and anthemia. The main section of the Wall Street facade narrows significantly: the section between the 15th and 20th floors is eight bays wide; between the 21st and 25th floors is five bays wide; and between the 26th and 30th stories is three bays wide.

Roof.

The section above the 30th story forms a lantern-like cupola with four layers. The lowest layer is composed of the 31st and 32nd stories: the former has rectangular windows and the latter has square windows. Both stories measure three by three bays wide, with round-arched, gabled wings to the south and north. The second layer is a windowless octagonal section with niches cut into each corner. The third layer is cruciform-shaped, with rectangular openings on each of four sides flanked by a pair of columns, forming a colonnade. The top layer is a windowless square mass, topped by a pyramidal roof. The lantern is designed in the Federal style.  The pyramidal roof is capped by a representation of an eagle on a globe, which represented New York state. The eagle is located above the ground, and is gilded. The eagle was restored in 2008.

Interior.

The office stories' lobby is from the eastern entrance on Wall Street, and is composed of an inner vestibule and elevator lobby. The walls and floors are composed of gray marble, while the ceiling is made of plaster, with glass-and-bronze lamps attached to the top. A stair with a bronze railing is located on the eastern side of the lobby. There is a letterbox on the south wall of the inner vestibule. The elevator lobby contains no elevators along the west wall, all of which have decorated bronze doors. These are separated into 'local' elevators serving lower floors and 'express' elevators running nonstop to upper floors.  The banking lobby, accessed from the central entrance on Wall Street, also has a small entrance vestibule with marble walls and floors, located between the entrance and main lobby. The entrance vestibule features a stone roundel with the New York Life Insurance & Trust Company's inscription, as well as a bronze plaque with the Bank of New York's seal. Inside, doors lead to the main lobby, which is composed of two circular stairs flanking a marble compass on the floor.  The banking room takes up almost the entire 2nd story, and is divided into three sections. These are the north side of the room, taking up much of the space; a raised area on the south, near the balustrade; and a narrow western section behind an arcade. The space has a black-and-white marble floor; plaster walls with marble wainscoting; and an ornamented ceiling with acoustical tiles and large chandeliers. Inside the banking room are eight arched panels that are decorated with murals: five on the north wall and three on the east wall. The north-wall panels depict scenes from the 18th century and the east-wall panels depict scenes from the 19th century. These murals were painted by James Monroe Hewlett. Also on the east wall of the banking room are screens leading to the elevator lobby. On the southeast corner is a private office, which includes a marble fireplace mantel and wooden decorations.  The 3rd floor has the bank's original executive office. There was also a board room designed in the Colonial Revival style, which contained Doric columns, round-arched doors, wainscoting, and a fireplace, and formerly a Ernest Peixotto painting of the bank's founders. The board room is likely an imitation of that at the bank's first headquarters, the Walton family mansion. The other office spaces were unfurnished and were rented out to commercial tenants.

History.

Previous buildings.

The Bank of New York was founded in 1784. Its first offices were in the old Walton family mansion on Pearl Street, in the current Financial District, but the bank moved to a site on Hanover Square in 1787. Nine years later, the bank's board was looking for "better facilities and a more desirable location", and voted to move to the corner of Wall and William Streets at a cost of 10,000 New York pounds. The new structure was constructed "with the necessary vaults for the business of the bank", and it opened on April 23, 1798. Several years later, were trimmed off the William Street side of the building when that street was widened, and the bank received compensation of $35,000 ().  In subsequent years, other banks began moving to residential buildings on Wall Street, and by the 1820, financial institutions made up the vast majority of tenants. In the mid-19th century, many Wall Street banks destroyed their former structures to erect new Greek Revival and Italianate buildings. Among these were the Bank of New York, which in 1856 approved a plan for a four-story structure to plans by Vaux and Withers. The structure was completed in 1858. The brownstone and brick building measured on William Street and on Wall Street. The interior banking room, with a ceiling high, was located at the building's rear (north) end on the 1st and 2nd stories. Two additional stories were built in 1880, including a mansard roof on the top story.

Planning and construction.

By the beginning of the 20th century, banks on Wall Street were building larger structures. The Bank of New York considered buying land to build a third structure at 48 Wall Street in the first decade of the century, but these plans were dropped in 1909 as uneconomical. The plans were reconsidered in the 1910s. In 1912, the New York Life Insurance and Trust Company put for sale the neighboring 50 Wall Street, though the company retained the other neighboring property at 52 Wall Street. The new Bank of New York building was again postponed due to the construction of the Broadway–Seventh Avenue subway line in the 1910s, which raised concerns that the new structure's foundations might be damaged, and then the onset of World War I, when funding was scarce.  The New York Life Insurance and Trust Company and the Bank of New York merged in 1922, and the combined company took the properties at 48 and 52 Wall Street. The bank remodeled 52 Wall Street in 1923 and 1924, but the bank still needed space to expand. In 1926, the Bank of New York and Trust Company and the National City Bank, which owned 50 Wall Street, agreed to exchange ownership of 50 and 52 Wall Street. As a result, the Bank of New York and Trust Company had an L-shaped lot measuring on Wall Street and on William Street. The Bank of New York and Trust Company kept of the 52 Wall Street plot, while the National City Bank commissioned its own skyscraper for the remaining portion of the 52 Wall Street site. The land-swapping agreement was confirmed in May 1927.  Benjamin Wistar Morris prepared plans for a 32-story building on the combined plot. He initially projected in April 1927 that the building would cost $5 million () if the facades were built entirely in limestone, but including interior furnishings raised the projection by $340,000 in July. The trustees rejected a plan to replace part of the facade with a cheaper material. The Bank of New York and Trust Company wished to continue working at the site of the new skyscraper. Ultimately, the bank decided to rent space at nearby 76 William Street for two years because it would have been impractical to maintain their current quarters while the foundations were being excavated. To fund the building, which was expected to cost $7 million (equal to $ million in ), the bank prepared a 50% stock dividend, to be funded by increasing its total capital from $4 million to $6 million.  The building's cornerstone was laid on January 12, 1928, the 171st birthday of the bank's founder, Alexander Hamilton. Though the lowest seven floors were to be used by the Bank of New York, the remaining floors were available for use by other tenants. By that March, the building was 50% leased. In September 1928, bank officials hosted a ceremony where stones from the two previous buildings on the site were inserted into the new skyscraper. The same month, the golden eagle was placed atop the building's roof. The new building opened on January 12, 1929, Hamilton's 172nd birthday.

Bank of New York use.

At the time of the building's opening, all 32 stories were leased. The Bank of New York used the 1st through 3rd stories for official banking activity, with a banking room, a trust department, and safe deposit boxes. The 4th through 7th stories were used for the bank's offices. Tenants in the upper floors included brokerage and banking tenants such as J. Henry Schroder & Co., which took two floors; E. Naumberg on the 15th floor; Hitt, Farwell & Company on the 25th floor; Eldredge & Company on the 26th floor; and Wood Gundy on the 27th floor. The building also housed Sullivan & Cromwell, a law firm that took four floors.  Most of 48 Wall Street's tenants remained through the Great Depression. Business at the Bank of New York thrived in the Depression, and in August 1946, the bank bought the adjacent 52-54 William Street building to the north, giving both the bank and its tenants additional space for expansion. Connections between 48 Wall Street and 52 William Street were subsequently built at several levels in the 1940s. Connections to the National City Corporation's 52 Wall Street building to the east were also erected during the 1950s. The rest of the blockfront on Wall Street, between 54 and 68 Wall Street, was demolished in the early 1970s by their owner, Cities Service, which had been headquartered at nearby 70 Pine Street but moved to Oklahoma in 1974.  By 1979, the American International Group and the Bank of New York were considering building a new skyscraper at 60 Wall Street. This building would have replaced 48 and 52 Wall Street. The vacant land on the rest of the block remained undeveloped for several years, and the bank cancelled the plans after elected officials' protests led the city's Industrial Commercial Incentive Board to refuse the company's request for a $22 million tax abatement in February 1982. By September 1982, the lots were up for sale, and in September 1983, the bank sold the vacant lots and 52 Wall Street to developer Park Tower Realty Company. The connections between 48 and 52 Wall Street were severed, and the new building at 60 Wall Street was completed in 1989. With the Bank of New York's acquisition of the Irving Trust in December 1988, the company's headquarters moved to nearby 1 Wall Street, the Irving Trust company headquarters. However, the Bank of New York retained ownership of 48 Wall Street, as well as some offices there.

Sale and later use.

In the late 1990s, the bank put 48 Wall Street for sale, hosting a two-stage auction in which more than 20 parties bid. A joint venture between the Corsair Group and Swig Burris Equities won the auction, buying the building for $37.5 million. The joint venture planned to convert the upper floors to 277 rental apartments and keep the lower floors as commercial stores. The structure would be renamed the Residences at 48 Wall Street, with 169 furnished apartments on the fifth through 17th floors and unfurnished units above. Most of the units would have been one- or two-bedroom units, though some would have been studios. At the time, building prices in Lower Manhattan were increasing rapidly; the nearby Broad Exchange Building had been sold in 1995 for, but the joint venture had bought 48 Wall Street for. When the Bank of New York finally moved out of the space in September 1998, it had occupied the site for 201 years.  The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission designated the building's exterior as a landmark in October 1998. The building's residential renovation was set to cost $85 million and include renovated elevators, windows with insulated glazing, fiber-optic cables, and a restored lobby. The Corsair/Swig Burris joint venture dropped their plans for apartment conversions in February 2000, after interior demolition was well underway. The joint venture cited the growing demand for commercial and office space, since these types of tenants were willing to pay more per square foot. The building reopened in August 2001, at which point it was 65% occupied. Among the new tenants were the Rockefeller Group Business Center. 48 Wall Street was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2003. The eagle at the top of the building was restored in a 2008 project.  The Museum of American Finance announced in 2005 that it would move from 26 Broadway to 48 Wall Street. Two years later, 48 Wall Street's former banking hall was modified to house the museum. However, the museum terminated its lease at 48 Wall Street in December 2018. Subsequently, the former bank housed Will & Wall, a multi-purpose event venue.

Critical reception.

Upon 48 Wall Street's opening, it was described by the Bank of New York and Trust Company's president, Edwin Merrill, as "visual evidence of the bank's intention to keep abreast of the times". The "Real Estate Record" wrote in 1927 that, in the architecture of 48 Wall Street, the bank "is endeavoring to perpetuate the dignity and feeling" of 18th-century New York City. "Bankers Magazine" stated in 1929 that "the colonial feeling has been fittingly observed in the treatment of both interior and exterior", and lauded the murals' "soft colors", which were described as having "an air of quiet". In a 1987 book, architect Robert A. M. Stern described the structure's massing as being simple and "mellifluous".

48 Wall Street, formerly the Bank of New York & Trust Company Building, is a 32-story, skyscraper on the corner of Wall Street and William Street in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. Built in 1927–1929 in the Neo-Georgian and Colonial Revival styles, it was designed by Benjamin Wistar Morris.

48 Wall Street aussi connu sous le nom de Bank of New York Bulding a été construit en 1928 sur le terrain de la banque qui y était depuis 1797, sur le coin de Wall Street et William Street dans le quartier financier de New York. Elle a été inscrite au Registre national des lieux historiques en 2003.


Personal life.

She was born to D.C. Superior Court judge Carlisle Edward Pratt and Mildred "Peggy" (Petticord) Pratt. Three years later, a sister, Benaree, was born. After she lost her mother to breast cancer at an early age, her grandmother, Hazel Pratt, and aunt, Aimee Elizabeth Pratt, helped raise the girls.  Pratt attended D.C. Public Schools Gage ES, Rudolph ES, MacFarland Junior High School, and Roosevelt HS (1961, with honors). She excelled at baseball but deemphasized that in adolescence. At Howard University she joined Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority (1964), and earned a B.A. in political science (1965). She received J.D. degree from the Howard University School of Law in 1968. She met and dated her future husband there.  She married Arrington Dixon in 1966 and has two daughters, Aimee and Drew, born in 1968 and 1970. They divorced after sixteen years. Former Def Jam A&R executive Drew Dixon is her daughter.

Career.

Initially her political energies were drawn to national rather than local politics. She was a member of the Democratic National Committee from the District of Columbia (1977–1990), the first female to hold that position. She was DNC Treasurer (1985–1989).  At the 1980 Democratic National Convention, she was a member of the Ad Hoc Credentials Committee, member of the Judicial Council, and co-chairman of the Rules Committee.  In 1983, she was made Vice President of Community Relations at Pepco, the D.C. electric utility. She became the first woman and first African American to serve in that role. The same year, she won the Presidential Award from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).

1990 mayoral election.

Upset with the decline of her hometown, Pratt announced at the 1988 Democratic National Convention that she would challenge incumbent mayor Marion Barry in the 1990 election. Pratt was the only candidate to have officially announced her plans to run for mayor when Barry was arrested on drug charges and dropped out of the race in early 1990. Shortly thereafter, the race was joined by longtime councilmembers John Ray, Charlene Drew Jarvis and David Clarke. Pratt criticized her three main opponents, referring to them as the "three blind mice" who "saw nothing, said nothing and did nothing as the city rapidly decayed." She was the only candidate who called on Barry to resign from office, and ran specifically as an outsider to his political machine.  Following a series of televised debates during the last few weeks of the campaign, Pratt received the endorsement of the "Washington Post." The day the endorsement appeared, her poll numbers skyrocketed, with many political observers attributing the rise specifically to the "Post"'s backing. On the eve of the election, polls showed Councilmember John Ray holding the lead, but Pratt gaining ground fast and a large margin of undecided voters remaining. However, even with the smallest campaign staff and least money, Pratt won the election, defeating second-place Ray by 10%. As Washington is a heavily Democratic city, her victory over Republican former police chief Maurice T. Turner, Jr., in the November 6 general election was a foregone conclusion. She was sworn in as mayor of Washington on January 2, 1991.

Mayor of the District of Columbia.

Once in office, Pratt's grassroots, reform posture met resistance. She made good on her promises to clean house, requesting the resignations of all Barry appointees the day after her election; however, as she began to slash the city employment payroll, her political support began to weaken. She angered labor leaders who claimed she had promised not to fire union employees, and began mandating unpaid furloughs and wage freezes citywide. After removing Barry's political cronies from her administration, she suffered from high staff turnover: three city administrators, two chiefs of staff, three deputy mayors for economic development, and two Department of Finance chiefs had passed through her cabinet by the end of her term.  Kelly was at odds with several D.C. Council members with her proposal to temporarily move the city government to the building at One Judiciary Square, ten blocks away from Washington's incumbent city hall, the District Building, while the latter underwent renovations. When Kelly moved her office and administration departments to One Judiciary Square in 1992, the Council refused to leave the District Building, although they had approved the proposal that spring. In February 1993, after accusing Kelly of deliberately neglecting maintenance in order to force them out, they voted to take full and exclusive control of the District Building.  According to the "Washington City Paper", Kelly "was never able to get control of a city government still loyal to Barry, and she often mistrusted the advice she got from aides." In the spring of 1992, just over a year into her term, Barry loyalists mounted a recall campaign, which, although unsuccessful, weakened her administration and forced Kelly to tread more carefully with the public, backing away from her reform efforts.  Kelly faced some racial opposition because she is a light-skinned black, often cited as a hallmark of elite African Americans in the District, thus distancing her from poor and working-class blacks in the city.

Statehood.

Kelly's drive to achieve D.C. statehood in order to improve the District's financial and political standing created fierce opposition from Republican members of Congress, who unleashed a barrage of attacks on the District as a "national disgrace" of "one-party rule...massive dependency, hellish crime...and unrelenting scandal." The attacks brought unwelcome negative press to DC, and the ultimate failure in the House of Representatives of DC statehood legislation weakened her political capital. She lost standing with the DC Council when she supported Council member Linda Cropp to serve as acting Chair after the suicide of John A. Wilson in May 1993; instead, the Council chose John L. Ray.

Redskins stadium.

Kelly was blamed for the Washington Redskins moving out of the city. Redskins owner Jack Kent Cooke attempted to pressure the city to build a new stadium to replace aging RFK Stadium, with the threat of moving the team to nearby Alexandria, Virginia. After negotiations stalled and Cooke was publicly courted by Virginia's governor, Kelly denounced Cooke vocally, saying that "I will not allow our good community to be steamrolled by a billionaire bully." She announced that she had offered as much as she was willing to offer the Redskins and would go no further. Although an agreement was ultimately reached, in 1993 Cooke withdrew from negotiations and moved the team to what is now FedExField in Landover, Maryland.

City finances and re-election campaign.

Kelly began her term having extremely good relations with Congress, including successfully lobbying them to increase federal aid for D.C. by $100 million and to authorize the sale of $300 million in deficit reduction bonds. As fiscal year 1994 began for DC government (in October 1993), DC faced a $500 million budget deficit, with financial experts predicting that the city's debt would reach $1 billion by 1999. Later, in early 1994 Kelly admitted that the District could not pay its bills, Congress commissioned a federal audit of the city finances by the GAO.  In February 1994, in the face of a ballooning deficit, Kelly faced heavy criticism when the "Washington Post" reported that she regularly spent taxpayer funds on makeup for cable television appearances. Kelly was reported to have set aside $14,000 of city money to pay her makeup artist. In the weeks following, Kelly came under fire for other inappropriate uses of city funds, including the addition of bulletproof glass and a marble fireplace in her office and a series of 1993 televised town hall meetings that she had promised would be paid for with private financing.  The GAO's report on DC finances was published on June 22, 1994, and estimated that the city would run out of money in two years and "may be forced to borrow from the U.S. Treasury by fiscal year 1995." The report specifically singled out Kelly's administration for gross mismanagement of city funds and agencies, and accused her of concealing the city's perilous fiscal condition from Congress for two years, "using gimmicks and violating the federal anti-deficiency act, which prohibits over-spending of a federally approved budget." The report, coupled with Congress' subsequent assertion of power over DC's budget (including deep cuts and new requirements for mayoral compliance), provided political ammunition for her challengers and effectively destroyed Kelly's reelection campaign.  The "Washington Post", which had endorsed Kelly in 1990, instead in 1994 endorsed Councilman John Ray. In its endorsement, the "Post" reflected that Kelly "has not been a coalition builder, which a mayor - and perhaps particularly the mayor of a city under enormous financial and social stress - needs to be...the most aggressive members of the city council, those most sympathetic to her cost-cutting message, are not with her. Nor are key elements in the business community. She has lost them and with them, we believe, her chance to enact the measures she has stood for."  In the Democratic primary that September, Kelly finished a distant third, with only about 13% of the vote. Barry won the primary and would go on to win the general election in November against an unusually strong Republican opponent, Carol Schwartz.

Post-mayoral activities.

Consulting.

In 2003, Pratt was awarded a $235,000 contract from the District of Columbia's Department of Health to be the city's main contact with federal homeland security agencies. The contract also calls for her to investigate improved communications and technology to protect the district from bioterrorism. Pratt was required to meet with senior federal officials and write a report on potential opportunities, especially resource-sharing agreements. She was also required to look for additional funding sources. Pratt's firm, Pratt Consulting, does management consulting and works with federal, state, and local agencies and non-profit groups.

Sharon Pratt (born January 30, 1944), formerly Sharon Pratt Dixon and Sharon Pratt Kelly, is an American attorney and politician who served as the third mayor of the District of Columbia from 1991 to 1995. Pratt was the first African American woman to serve as mayor of a major American city.

Sharon Pratt Kelly, née le à Washington D.C., est une femme politique américaine, membre du Parti démocrate. Elle est la troisième maire de Washington D.C., et la première femme, entre 1991 et 1995.


Club career.

Capable of playing both sides of the scrum, Doran-Jones' career started at Lansdowne in Dublin whilst he was at university in the city.  He had a spell with King Country in New Zealand and four seasons with Leinster from 2003 to 2007. He then joined London Welsh, representing them during the 2007–08 season and 2008–09 season. He was also a part of the London Wasps side in their Guinness A League triumph in 2008.  Doran-Jones joined Gloucester Rugby for the 2009–10 season. But, after two seasons at the club it was announced that he will join Northampton Saints at the end of the 2010–11 season.  On 29 January 2013, he left Northampton Saints to join Harlequins on a two-year contract from the 2013-14 season.  On 28 January 2015, it was announced that Doran Jones would rejoin Gloucester Rugby for the 2015-16 season. On 19 June 2017, Doran-Jones announced his return to Premiership rivals Wasps from the 2017-18 season.

International career.

Doran Jones had represented England at U18 level, and represented the Ireland U19 team at the 2004 Junior World Cup in South Africa. He later represented Ireland U21s at the 2006 IRB U21 World Championship. He qualified to represent Ireland through his mother.  On 9 November 2009, Doran-Jones was called up to the England Squad for the Autumn Internationals following injury to Dave Wilson. He made his England debut on 14 November 2009 at Twickenham against Argentina as a substitute for Tim Payne.

Personal life.

Doran-Jones was educated at Wellington College. He was suspended from Wellington College for producing a non-consensual film showing him having sex with his then girlfriend in school accommodation using a hidden camera. No police charges were brought against Doran-Jones. Fellow pupil and future England rugby teammate James Haskell was also suspended by the school for his involvement in the film’s distribution. https://www.getreading.co.uk/news/local-news/sex-film-boys-england-rugby-4232375

Paul Doran-Jones (born 2 May 1985) is an English retired rugby union player. He most recently played in the English Premiership for Wasps. He played as a prop.

Paul Peter L. Doran Jones, né le à Enfield, est un joueur de rugby à XV international anglais évoluant au poste de pilier dans l'équipe des Wasps.


Early life.

Rogers was born in Belmont, Massachusetts. Her father was an immigrant from Malmö, Sweden. She graduated from Belmont High School. She had hoped to study art, but in 1933 she won a beauty contest sponsored by Paramount Pictures that led to her career in Hollywood. Rogers starred in several serials for Universal between 1935 and 1938, including "Ace Drummond" and "Flash Gordon".

Early career.

Rogers was one of seven women chosen out of 2,700 passengers on excursion boats and ferries who were interviewed for roles in "Eight Girls in a Boat". The group began work in Hollywood on September 3, 1933. By 1937, Rogers was the only one of the seven featured as an actress.

"Flash Gordon".

Rogers was assigned the role of Dale Arden in the first two "Flash Gordon" serials. Buster Crabbe and Rogers were cast as the hero and heroine in the first serial, "Flash Gordon", and Rogers' beauty, long blonde hair, and revealing costumes endeared her to moviegoers. The evil ruler Ming the Merciless (Charles B. Middleton) lusted after her, and Gordon was forced to rescue her from one situation after another. While filming the series in 1937, her costume caught fire and she suffered burns on her hands. Co-star Crabbe smothered the fire by wrapping a blanket on her.  In the first serial, Arden competed with Princess Aura (Priscilla Lawson) for Gordon's attention. Rogers' character was fragile, small-chested, diminutive, and totally dependent on Gordon for her survival; Lawson's Princess Aura was domineering, independent, voluptuous, conniving, sly, ambitious, and determined to make Gordon her own. The competition for Gordon's attention is one of the highlights of the film. In "Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars", the second serial, Rogers sported a totally different look. She had dark hair and wore the same modest costume in each episode. Rogers matured after the first serial, and no sexual overtones are seen in "Trip to Mars". Rogers told writer Richard Lamparski that she was not eager to do the second serial and asked her studio to excuse her from the third.

Feature films.

Despite starring in serial films, Rogers felt she was not going to improve her career unless she could participate in feature films. She discovered that it was more tedious working in feature films. She played John Wayne's leading lady in the 1936 full-length motion picture "Conflict" and co-starred with Boris Karloff in the horror film "Night Key" the following year. During the 1940s, Rogers appeared solely in feature films, including "The Man Who Wouldn't Talk" (1940) with Lloyd Nolan, "Viva Cisco Kid" (1940) with Cesar Romero as the Cisco Kid, "Design for Scandal" (1941) with Rosalind Russell and Walter Pidgeon, "Whistling in Brooklyn" (1943) with Red Skelton, "A Stranger in Town" (1943) with Frank Morgan, "Backlash" (1947), and "Speed to Spare" (1948) with Richard Arlen. Still, she was unhappy with the studios, possibly because she was relegated to B-movie productions on a lower salary. She decided to freelance with companies such as 20th Century Fox and MGM. Her last appearance was in a supporting role in the suspense film "The Second Woman," made in 1950 by United Artists.

Later life.

Rogers married Dan Winkler in 1943 after she was dropped by MGM. She continued freelancing until retiring in 1951. Because she starred mainly in low-budget films, she was never a top star. In a 1979 interview, she explained what it was like and why she decided not to play Dale Arden in the third "Flash Gordon" serial.  Rogers was a lifelong Democrat who supported Adlai Stevenson's campaign during the 1952 presidential election and a practicing Lutheran.  She died in Sherman Oaks in 1991 at the age of 74 following surgery. She was later cremated and her ashes returned to her family.

Jean Rogers (born Eleanor Dorothy Lovegren, March 25, 1916 – February 24, 1991) was an American actress who starred in serial films in the 1930s and low–budget feature films in the 1940s as a leading lady. She is best remembered for playing Dale Arden in the science fiction serials "Flash Gordon" (1936) and "Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars" (1938).

Jean Rogers est une actrice américaine, de son vrai nom Eleanor Dorothy Lovegren, née le à Belmont (Massachusetts), morte le à Sherman Oaks — District de Los Angeles (Californie).


Battleground.

Ctesiphon lies on the Western bank of the Tigris River in the barren Iraqi desert, about upstream from Basra, north of Kut al-Amara, and south-east of Baghdad. It is a good defensive position located in a loop of the Tigris river. At the town there are ruins, the remains of the capital of the Parthian and Sassanid Empires.  The Ottoman forces had formed a well-camouflaged and formidable line of trenches crossing the river. There were two lines of trenches; there was also a ancient wall south of the main line, used for observation by the Ottoman forces.  The Ottoman forces consisted of approximately 18,000 men and 52 guns. The overall commander of the Ottoman army in Mesopotamia was Khalil Pasha. The commander in the field for the previous nine months was Lieutnant General Nureddin also called Nur-ud Din Pasha, but the Ottoman army was as of October under the command of Marshal Baron von der Goltz.,also called Goltz Pasha a well known German general, military historian and, for 12 years, a modernizer of the Ottoman army. Baron von der Goltz was old but he was an expert on military matters and had a deep understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the Ottoman army. General Goltz was still making his way to Mesopotamia and it was Nureddin who was in charge at the battle and the British believed he was still the commander. This may have been a factor in the course of events as the British – with considerable justification based on previous experience – thought poorly of Nureddin's skills as a general.  Nureddin had four divisions. The 35th and 38th Divisions were predominantly Arab. The 38th Divisions' prewar garrison had been Basra, and the 35th's was Mosul. Nureddin also had the 45th and 51st Divisions, newly raised divisions, which were predominantly Turkish. They were made up of a mixture of active and reserve soldiers. He had about 18,000 total infantry.  The British force consisted of the 6th (Poona) Division, at a strength of around 11,000 men. Some British troops had been left behind to garrison the recently captured town and river junction of Kut.  The British advance past Kut was slow, partly due to the bad weather and wet ground and partly due to General Townshend's reluctance to advance further. But the Commander-in-Chief of British forces in the region, General Nixon, ordered Townshend to take Baghdad. So, he commenced his march up the Tigris river.

British attack plan.

Townshend's plan of attack was to separate his force into four columns. Three infantry columns, designated columns A, B, and C, were scheduled for a frontal attack on different points of the Ottoman lines. The other column, referred to as the flying column, was made up of a mix of cavalry and infantry, and was supposed to swing around the left flank of the Ottoman lines. The attack was to be supported by two river boats, a gunboat and HMS "Firefly".

Ottoman defense plan.

Lieutnant General Nureddin had over 55 days to prepare his defenses, and his forces prepared them well. He deployed his forces in an L shaped formation. The 38th Division occupied the long part of the L. The new and fresh 45th Division held most vulnerable part of the line, the small leg of the L on the left, with one regiment up in the front line trenches and two in reserve. There were 12 strong points along the first trench line, and a complete second line of trenches to fall back into. In general reserve was the veteran 51st Division. The 35th was across the river. The Ottoman artillery was centrally located where it could support his left flank or the central part of his line. The artillery was ordered to fire first on the British gunboats, and then shift fire to support the Ottoman reserves.

Movements and the clash.

Townshend, intending to copy his success at Battle of Es Sinn, ordered a night march in the closing hours of November 21, 1915, with the aim of attacking at dawn on the November 22, The attack happened on schedule but due to poor ground conditions on the west bank the British ended up attacking the much stronger east bank positions.  The advance was supposed to be supported by river gunboats, however two things prevented the gun boats from becoming a factor in the battle. First, the Ottoman guns on the west bank rained fire upon them. Secondly, the Tigris was extensively mined and several river obstructions made navigation difficult.  At the beginning of the battle, C-Column, the one closest to the river bank came under heavy small arms and artillery fire and failed to reach the first trench line. A-Column, in the middle, was also halted short of the trench line.  On the right, B-Column (mainly Punjabis and Gurkhas) reached the first line of trenches, forced the Ottoman forces to retreat and pursued the retreating enemy towards the second line of trenches. Lieutnant General Nureddin committed the reserve regiments of the 45th Division and brought the unengaged 35th Division from the other side of the river to reinforce his lines, and the British-Indian forces were stopped.  Townshend then ordered C-Column to fall back, and try and exploit the breakthrough. This movement was rather complicated and the task was made difficult by Ottoman forces firing into their flank. Meanwhile, the flying column bogged down in inconclusive fighting against Turkish and Arab Cavalry. Here again Nureddin committed his reserves, in this case the 51st Division, to great effect, halting Townshend's flanking attack.  By the end of the day the 6th (Poona) Division had captured the first line of trenches, but the British sustained heavy casualties. The Ottoman forces had also taken heavy casualties but held their position.

Second day.

On the second day, Townshend again attempted to break through, with a supporting flank attack. The Ottoman forces again stopped it. They then counter-attacked the British positions with all available forces. The fight was hard, but the British line held. Both armies had taken heavy casualties and all troops had endured two days of intense combat and were exhausted. The Ottoman forces had lost 6,188 killed and wounded. The 51st Division lost 12%, the 35th Division lost 25%, and the 45th Division, which bore the brunt of the British attacks, lost 65% of its strength.

Day three.

On November 24, both generals ordered a withdrawal. On the British side, General Townshend concluded he needed to retreat because his losses had been too great to continue the effort to take Baghdad. Lieutnant General Nureddin also concluded he had to retreat due to the heavy losses. When he realized the British were retreating, he turned his army around and sent it in pursuit of the British-Indian forces.

Aftermath.

The 6th (Poona) Division had sustained a 40% casualty rate, losing about 4,600 troops. They were exhausted from the heavy fighting of the past two days and had an effective strength of about 8,500. Townshend decided a retreat back towards Kut was necessary to rebuild the strength of his army.  A British soldier, commenting on the attempts of his officers to pronounce the name "Ctesiphon", wrote “we calls it Pistupon”.  The Ottoman Army had sustained casualties of 6,188, but they had short supply lines and were able to get reinforcements from Baghdad and the northern provinces. Lieutnant General Nureddin, learning that the British were also retreating, turned his army around and pursued the British. The Ottoman forces under the command of Nureddin followed the British to Kut.  Ctesiphon and its aftermath revealed a key British weakness in this campaign: an inadequate supply line. The British troops were under-supplied, and their medical corps was understaffed, considering the number of troops and rate of casualties (both from battle and disease). In the later campaign which led to the capture of Baghdad by General Maude, logistics were much better dealt with.  The battle also demonstrated that the Ottoman Army could fight well on its own. Lieutnant General Nureddin had taken an army that had been beaten a number of times, put it in a carefully prepared defensive position, and held off the British and Indian forces. He also did this without any German advisors.

The Battle of Ctesiphon (Turkish: "Selman-ı Pak Muharebesi") was fought in November 1915 by the British Empire and British India, against the Ottoman Empire, within the Mesopotamian Campaign of World War I.

La bataille de Ctésiphon est une bataille de la Première Guerre mondiale qui s'est déroulée du 22 novembre au 25 novembre 1915 en la ville de Ctésiphon, au sud de Bagdad. Elle oppose l'Empire britannique d'une part à l'Empire ottoman de l'autre.


History.

Before the bridges, the transport between Sukkur and Rohri was by boats and steamers. Boatman Mir Mohammad alias Miroo recalled how his father Yar Mohammad used to run a small service between Sukkur and Rohri till the early sixties. “Very few people had cars or motorcycles at that time and therefore motor boats were the only way of communication.” Some people used to cross the River Indus by Lansdowne Bridge on bicycle. The train used to run in the center of the bridge and pedestrians and cyclists used the wooden walkways at both sides.  The fare for a single adult passenger was one anna (0.06 PKR) back in the day. They charged half for a child. Construction of Ayub Bridge started on November 26, 1959 and its foundation stone was laid on December 9, 1960 by the then minister of railways and communication, Khan FM Khan, Khan of Shewa. The contractor of the bridge was M/S Dorman Long Gammon of London, famous for Sydney Harbour Bridge in 1932. The consulting engineer was DB Steinman of New York – the man who reconstructed the famous Brooklyn Bridge in New York. Field Marshal Mohammad Ayub Khan inaugurated the bridge on the Sunday 6 May 1962.

Construction work.

The rationale behind construction of this arc bridge over the Indus is rocks in the river bed which do not allow the pillars to withstand the constant flow and pressure of water for a long time. The construction phase of Ayub Bridge was interesting as first of all four huge cemented abutments, two on each side of the river banks, were made. These abutments have to bear weight of the arc. In arc bridges, construction work has to start simultaneously from both sides of the river.  Therefore, two half arches supporting the deck with cables were built which were joined as one, to the amusement of the people witnessing the activity. The engineer would climb up the arcs through a ladder every day to physically check the strength of hundreds of rivets used in the bridge. Rivet is a metal pin used for fastening two pieces of metal together. It was a frightening sight not only for us but also for others watching, with the mighty Indus flowing beneath.  Ayub Bridge is a living example of a magnificent structure built with the joint efforts of engineers of Dorman Long and Company and the Pakistan Railways. It also reflects the passion and sincerity of the people at the helm of affairs of Railways at that time to bring about tangible improvements in the country's transportation systems.  When the great steel Ayub arch was constructed (1960–1962), railway traffic was shifted from Lansdowne Bridge to it. About a hundred feet apart, the two bridges seem like one from a distance. The Ayub arch became the world's third longest railway arch span and the first bridge in the world to have "the railway desk slung on coiled wire rope suspenders."

Ayub Bridge (Sindhi: ايوب پل; ), named after Field Marshal Mohammad Ayub Khan (President of Pakistan), is a railway bridge over the Indus river between Rohri and Sukkur in Sindh province, Pakistan. The bridge is about 806 feet long, 247 feet high and cost Rs21.6 million. Ayub Bridge, can be truly declared as one of the prides of Sukkur. It has served the city for 50 years by providing a strong link for rail traffic between Sukkur and Rohri. Before this, Lansdowne Bridge was the railway link between Sukkur and Rohri. The foundation stone of this steel arch bridge was laid on 9 December 1960 and inaugurated by President Muhammad Ayub Khan on 6 May 1962. The consulting engineer was David B. Steinman. The Ayub Bridge became the world's third longest railway arch span and the first railway bridge in the world to be slung on coiled wire rope suspenders.

Le pont d'Ayub est un pont en arc métallique qui franchit l'Indus entre les communes de Sukkur et Rohri dans la province pakistanaise du Sind. Construit de 1960 à 1962 et inauguré le, il possède la plus longue portée du Pakistan avec. Bien que distants d'un trentaine de mètres avec le Pont Lansdowne, les deux ponts ne semblent faire qu'un vus de loin


Location.

Rushden lies on the A6 midway between Bedford and Kettering. The southern limits of the town border on the county of Bedfordshire, and to its north lies the River Nene (locally pronounced Nen) which flows into The Wash. Rushden lies in a small valley, with a stream or brook known as Sidney Brook flowing through the centre of the town. During the late 1960s and 70s this stream was culverted to prevent flash flooding. From whichever way Rushden is approached, the streets and roads can be seen stretching out in the valley, with the spire of St Mary's church prominent above its rooftops.

Governance.

Peter Bone MP is the local MP representing Wellingborough. As a result of recent electoral changes, Rushden has been divided into five wards for both District and Town Council purposes. With the following re-classifications: Rushden Spencer (formerly North), Rushden Hayden (formerly East), Rushden Bates (formerly South), Rushden Sartoris (formerly South) and Rushden Pemberton (formerly West).

History.

Rushden's growth has resulted from a number of industries, including lacemaking and farming, and especially shoemaking and associated trades. In the mid-1900s there were well over 100 boot and shoe factories in Rushden but today there are only four shoemaking companies left in Rushden. One of the most renowned is Sanders and Sanders, which makes boots for the British Army and several other defence departments throughout the world. Some of the redundant factories have been converted into flats, and MPs support for government help has been limited. Today, as with many towns in England, industry in the town is varied, and mostly situated in an out-of-town industrial estate. As with the industry, town centre shopping in Rushden has changed considerably although there are still many shops. Rushden has the oldest toy shop in the county. In 1893 a short branch line railway opened linking Rushden and Higham Ferrers with the Midland Main Line. The line was closed in 1959 and dismantled. In 1991 the trackbed was converted into a pocket park. The former Rushden railway station is now owned by the Rushden Historical Transport Society, which operates a museum and real ale bar. The society often holds special events, including an annual 3-day transport cavalcade. The society aims to rebuild the branch line from Higham Ferrers to Wellingborough.  There is also a privately owned museum in Rushden which is situated in the town's Hall Park. It is open between the months of May and October.  Rushden Hall is the oldest domestic building in the town, once owned by many families throughout the years including the Sartoris family and the Pembertons family. The hall now functions as the head office of the town council and some rooms are available for hiring. It lies in of land which now is a public park (Hall Park).  The 1970s ITV Police Drama series "Hunters Walk" was filmed on location in Rushden and the surrounding villages.

Modern times.

In late 2010, Rushden began to undergo a regeneration project, with the aim to making the town centre a more spacious and attractive place to shop. Rushden Splash Pool on Station Road and the Pemberton Centre, slightly out of town were planned to move to a new site to make room for in the town centre from the move of Splash and a knock on move of Alfred Street School to the Site of the Pemberton Centre. Plans were drawn up for a move to Manor Park, an open space out of town to the south side of Rushden. This however was put on hold in 2010 due widespread local opposition and the economic downturn.  In early 2011, improvements to the High Street began with regeneration on the ‘southern gateway’ and a creation of a 'town square' in the middle of the High Street.  Also a greenway cycle and foot path was created joining existing footpaths with a new one along the old railway line through the town. This linked Ferrers School to Rushden town centre and then out of Rushden to Crown Park, a small out of town retail/business park with a DIY store and Waitrose Supermarket.

Retail.

Rushden has many supermarkets and convenience stores. Once Rushden was home to one of the five Safeway megastores in the country until they were bought by Wm Morrison; the store was then bought by Waitrose and turned into one of its five Food and Home stores which included a selection of home products from John Lewis. In 2006, Asda announced they would build a new £40m superstore near the town centre. The store opened in the autumn of 2006 and is now one of the biggest supermarkets in the town. In May 2007 Budgens announced it would be closing its store in the town because of the loss of trade to the new Asda store the former Budgens site is now a Wilko store. Asda added a new petrol filling station with a kiosk shop to the site in the autumn of 2016.

Rushden Lakes.

A new £140 million out of town leisure and shopping centre known as Rushden Lakes Shopping Centre opened in July 2017. The development is situated near Waitrose just off the A45, on the site of the former Skew Bridge dry ski slope, also referred to as Rushden Lakes, which had been derelict for some years.  The land was purchased by LXB Retail Properties for £4.5 million in 2011 and the development was later sold to The Crown Estate. When finalised, the development will include a cinema, shops, hotels, visitor centre, restaurants, a leisure centre and a marina, with Marks & Spencer as its flagship store. A link to the River Nene will also be incorporated. The new facility will create around 2,000 jobs. Despite opposition from the local councils of Corby, Northampton, Bedford and Kettering, the Rushden Lakes proposal was approved by East Northants Council in October 2012, but the application was automatically referred to the Secretary of State. The Secretary of State, Eric Pickles, approved the planning application and gave the go-ahead for the Rushden Lakes development on Thursday 12 June 2014.  Rushden Lakes is currently still in development today, where the first section of the area opened on Friday 28 July 2017, with shops such as Marks & Spencer, Primark, New Look, JD Sports and H&M opening on the same day.

Sports and recreation.

Leisure facilities.

Rushden has two main leisure facilities, The Pemberton Centre and Splash Pool. Both are managed by Freedom Leisure, as so membership covers both venues. The Pemberton Centre is a large leisure and conference centre including a large hall, conference rooms, sport hall, gym, young person’s gym, squash courts and dance studio. The Splash Pool is situated close to the town centre and includes a swimming pool with a learner area, beach area and indoor slide.

Football.

The town's football club, Rushden Town merged with nearby Irthlingborough Diamonds in 1992 to become Rushden & Diamonds. The new club moved to Nene Park, on the outskirts of Irthlingborough, and played there until going into liquidation in 2011.  A new club AFC Rushden & Diamonds was set up in 2011 which has groundshared with Rushden & Higham United at their Hayden Road ground from the 2017/18 season.  A smaller club, Rushden & Higham United compete in the United Counties League, and play at the Hayden Road ground where Rushden Town played until 1992.  Junior Football is catered for by AFC Rushden & Diamonds Youth who offer football for boys and girls from 4 years of age through to over 50's. www.afcdiamondsyouth.com

Rugby Union.

Rugby Union is played at Manor Park, the home of Rushden & Higham RUFC. The club was created in October 1951. Over the years the club has played at Chamberlain's Field, near the old Higham railway station, Saffron Meadows, and the John White's ground in Rushden and now plays at Manor Park, Rushden, on pitches rented weekly from the town council.

Golf.

Rushden has two golf courses. A 9-hole course south of Rushden called John Whites also houses a driving range. Rushden Golf Club is a larger 18 hole course to the East of Rushden.

Air Training Corps (Air Cadets).

Rushden has its own Air Training Corps Squadron, No 858 (Rushden) Squadron Air Training Corps "858 (Rushden) Squadron". It is run by civilian staff who are officers that are commissioned in the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve (Training Branch), assisted by adult Senior NCO’s and civilian instructors; all which are volunteers.

Crime.

In October 2014, 23-year-old Steven Smith from Rushden was murdered. He was stabbed to death in an act of 'pure aggression' on 25 October 2014.

Education.

Before the single-sex senior schools were merged, the former girls school in Rushden was named "Chichele Girls School" after Henry Chichele who was born in the neighbouring town of Higham Ferrers.  Rushden is home to one secondary school, Rushden Academy. It is part of The East Northamptonshire College together with The Ferrers Specialist Arts College (Higham Ferrers) and Huxlow School (Irthlingborough). Rushden has 8 Primary Schools:  South Rushden North Rushden Central Rushden East Rushden West Rushden Higham Ferrers  For adult education, Rushden is served by a 'Learning Centre' which is located in the town centre. The Learning Centre is operated by Bedford College, and offers Information Technology, English Language and Mathematics courses.

Transport.

Rail.

At present, Rushden is one of the largest towns in the country without an operational railway station. However, there are proposals by The Association of Train Operating Companies to build a new railway station on the Midland Main Line (to the West of Rushden) to be known as Rushden Parkway. This is supported by local transport campaigners. Currently, the nearest railway station is at Wellingborough about five miles (8 km) away, on the Midland Main Line, although no bus service currently links Rushden to Wellingborough station - the X46 bus service stops at Midland Road in Wellingborough about half a mile from the station.  The heritage Rushden, Higham and Wellingborough Railway currently operate services from Rushden's station.

Bus.

The main routes serving Rushden are Stagecoach services 50/49 with connections to Kettering and Bedford and the X46/47 providing links with Raunds, Wellingborough, Irchester and Northampton. There are also services that connect Rushden to the small villages in North Bedfordshire and has its own bus service within the town, the Rushden-Higham link. The Link runs 3 routes and are:

Air.

Several major UK airports are only within 60 miles or 1 hour driving distance of the town, including Luton, East Midlands, Birmingham and Stansted.

Road.

In terms of roads, Rushden is bypassed by the A6 which has connections to Kettering (Northbound) and Bedford and Luton (Southbound). The A45 connects Rushden to the East coast as well as Northampton and the M1 motorway westbound.

Nearby settlements.

Bedford, Burton Latimer, Chelveston, Corby, Finedon, Higham Ferrers, Irchester, Irthlingborough, Kettering, Milton Keynes, Newton Bromswold, Northampton, Oundle, Podington, Raunds, Riseley, St Neots, Thrapston, Wellingborough, Wollaston, Wymington

Rushden is a market town and civil parish in the East Northamptonshire district in Northamptonshire, England. The parish of Rushden covers an area of some, and is part of the district of East Northamptonshire. The population of Rushden is 29,272 (Census 2011), making it the fifth largest town in the county. The Rushden-Higham urban area, which includes the adjoining town of Higham Ferrers, has an estimated population of 36,410. The estimated population of Rushden in 2015 was 30,282.

Rushden est une ville britannique dans le comté de Northamptonshire qui compte habitants. Elle forme une conurbation avec Higham Ferrers.


Vehicle.

The Soyuz-2.1v represents a major departure from earlier Soyuz rockets. Unlike the Soyuz-2.1b upon which it is based, it does away with the four boosters used on all other R-7 vehicles. The first stage of the Soyuz-2.1v is a heavily modified derivative of the Soyuz-2 first stage, with a single-chamber NK-33 engine replacing the four-chamber RD-107 used on previous rockets along with structural modifications to the stage and lower tanking. Since the NK-33 is fixed, the RD-0110R engine is used to supply thrust vector control. It also supplies an extra of thrust and heats the pressurization gases.  The NK-33 engine, originally built for the N1 programme, offers increased performance over the RD-107; however, only a limited number of engines are available. Once the supply is exhausted, the NK-33 will be replaced by the RD-193. In April 2013, it was announced that the RD-193 engine had completed testing. The RD-193 is a lighter and shorter engine based on the Angara's RD-191, which is itself a derivative of the Zenit's RD-170.  The second stage of the Soyuz-2.1v is the same as the third stage of the Soyuz-2.1b; powered by an RD-0124 engine. For most missions a Volga upper stage will be used to manoeuvre the payload from an initial parking orbit to its final destination. The Volga is derived from the propulsion system of the Yantar reconnaissance satellite, and was developed as a lighter and cheaper alternative to the Fregat.  The Soyuz-2.1v was designed as a light-class carrier rocket, and has a payload capacity of to a circular low Earth orbit with an inclination of 56.8° from Baikonur, and to a 200 kilometre orbit at 62.8° from Plesetsk.

Operational history.

In 2009, the maiden flight of the Soyuz-2.1v was announced as being scheduled for 2010, with this later being delayed to 2011 and then 2012 by development delays and payload availability. By June 2011 it was scheduled to occur at the end of 2012. During a test firing of a first stage prototype in August 2012, a test stand software malfunction resulted in damage to the stand and prototype, delaying the static testing programme.  The test was re-attempted in May 2013, and was declared successful despite the burn lasting 52 seconds shorter than had been expected. With this complete, the launch was scheduled for September 2013. It subsequently slipped to November and then December.  The maiden flight – which made use of a Volga upper stage – carried the Aist 1 microsatellite and a pair of SKRL-756 calibration spheres. Ahead of the launch, the rocket was rolled out to Site 43/4 at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome on 18 December 2013 with the launch scheduled for 23 December.  The launch was delayed beyond 23 December by problems found during late testing at the pad. An attempt to launch was made on 25 December, but it was scrubbed around ten minutes before the liftoff, which had been scheduled for 14:00 UTC. Despite reports that the launch could not take place before the end of the year, it was rescheduled for 10:30 UTC on 28 December. A further last-minute delay pushed the liftoff back to 12:30 UTC (16:30 local time), at which time the launch took place successfully. Spacecraft separation occurred 100 minutes later, at 14:10 UTC.  The second launch of the vehicle on December 5, 2015 carried two payloads Kanopus-ST and KYuA-1, while the Kanopus-ST failed to separate from the final stage.  The third launch, which was an unannounced launch, carried a secret military payload on June 23, 2017 from Plesetsk.  The fourth flight was on 29 March 2018 from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome. The booster orbited an EMKA satellite, which was reportedly designed to test miniature Earth imaging technology.  The fifth flight took place on 10 July 2019 carrying four military satellites, Kosmos-2535, Kosmos-2536, Kosmos-2537 and Kosmos-2538, from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome.  Flight number 6 took place on 25 November 2019 17:52 UTC from Plesetsk Site 43/4. It delivered the Kosmos 2542 satellite for Ministry of Defence to Low Earth orbit. The flight used a Volga upper stage. The flight was successful.

Photogallery from Paris Air Show 2011.

Russia exhibited a model of the Soyuz-2.1v during the 2011 Paris Air Show at Le Bourget.

The Soyuz-2.1v (, "Union 2.1v"), GRAU index 14A15, known earlier in development as the Soyuz-1 (, "Union 1"), is a Russian expendable carrier rocket. It was derived from the Soyuz-2.1b, and is a member of the R-7 family of rockets. It is built by TsSKB Progress, at Samara in the Russian Federation. Launches are conducted from existing facilities at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in Northwest Russia, with pads also available at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, and new facilities at the Vostochny Cosmodrome in Eastern Russia.

Soyouz 2.1v ou anciennement Soyouz-1 est une des variantes de la Soyouz 2, c'est un lanceur léger russe dont le premier vol a eu lieu en décembre 2013. Cette version moins puissante abandonne l'architecture du premier étage à 4 blocs regroupés en faisceau qui donnent habituellement au Soyouz son apparence si particulière et les moteurs-fusées d'origine du sont remplacés par un unique propulseur NK-33 développé et construit à la fin des années 1960 pour la fusée géante soviétique N1. La Soyouz 2.1v est capable de placer en orbite basse une charge utile de, ce qui la place dans la même catégorie que les lanceurs légers Rokot, Strela ou Dnepr. Le lanceur peut être tiré depuis un pas-de-tir Soyouz classique, au prix de quelques adaptations avant et après le vol. Pour l'heure, seuls des lancements depuis le cosmodrome de Plesetsk ont été effectués.