The One World Trade Center was topped-out
The main building of the rebuilt World Trade Center complex in Lower Manhattan, New York City, One World Trade Center, also known as One World Trade, One WTC, and formerly the Freedom Tower is the tallest building in the United States, the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere, and the seventh-tallest in the world. Including its spire, it reaches a total height of 1,776 feet (541 m), with its height in feet being a deliberate reference to the year when the United States Declaration of Independence was signed.
1997 Qayen earthquake
Hitting the Khorasan Province of northern Iran, the 7.3 Mw Qayen earthquake was the region's largest since 1990. The earthquake was caused by a rupture along the Abiz Fault, part of the Sistan suture zone of eastern Iran. The quake, which left 1,567 dead, 50,000 homeless and more than 15,000 houses damaged, was described as the deadliest of 1997 by the United States Geological Survey.
Lake Pontchartrain Causeway northbound opened
The Lake Pontchartrain Causeway, also known simply as The Causeway, is a fixed link composed of two parallel bridges crossing Lake Pontchartrain in southeastern Louisiana, United States. The longer of the two bridges is 23.83 miles (38.35 km) long. The southern terminus of the causeway is in Metairie, Louisiana, a south shore suburb of New Orleans. The northern terminus is in Mandeville, Louisiana, a north shore suburb of New Orleans.
First transcontinental railroad opened
Originally known as the "Pacific Railroad", North America's first transcontinental railroad opened for through traffic between Sacramento and Omaha on May 10, 1869. The railroad revolutionized the settlement and economy of the American West, making the transporting passengers and goods coast-to-coast considerably quicker, safer and less expensive.
Thomas Young died
Having been described as "The Last Man Who Knew Everything", British polymath Thomas Young made notable contributions to the fields of vision, light, solid mechanics, energy, physiology, language, musical harmony, and Egyptology. Among his many achievements, Young described the characterization of elasticity that came to be known as Young's modulus (denoted as E).
William Henry Barlow was born
William Henry Barlow was an English civil engineer of the 19th century, particularly associated with railway engineering projects. Barlow was involved in many engineering enterprises. He was engineer for the Midland Railway on its London extension and designed the company's London terminus at St Pancras. With John Hawkshaw, he completed Isambard Kingdom Brunel's Clifton Suspension Bridge. Following the Tay Bridge disaster he sat on the commission which investigated the causes and designed the replacement Tay Bridge. Barlow was also an inventor and experimenter, patenting a design for a rail and carrying out investigations on the use and design of steel structures.
