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BOAC Flight 712 (callsign Speedbird 712) for Monday 8 April 1968 was a British Overseas Airways Corporation service operated by a Boeing 707-465 from London Heathrow Airport bound for Sydney via Zürich Kloten and Singapore. The flight suffered an engine failure at take off that quickly led to a fire in flight before the engine fell from the aircraft. After a flight of 3 minutes and 32 seconds, the flight 712 made a safe emergency landing back at Heathrow.
Once on the ground, confusion over check lists led to an explosion in the port wing whilst the crew were evacuating passengers followed by a major fire which killed five of the 127 on board. The actions taken by those involved in the accident resulted in the award of a George Cross, a British Empire Medal and an MBE. As a direct result of the accident, BOAC changed the check lists for engine severe failures and engine fires, combining them both into one check list. (Full article...)
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Selected biography
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James Whitaker Wright (9 February 1846 - 26 January 1904) was an exceptionally wealthy English mining company owner. He became infamous when he committed suicide at the Royal Courts of Justice in London immediately following his conviction for fraud. Born in Stafford, Wright emigrated to Toronto, Canada in 1870, before moving to the United States. Wright began promoting silver-mining companies in Leadville, Colorado and Lake Valley, New Mexico. Although none of the companies made money for the shareholders, Wright made a fortune. After returning to Britain, he continued to promote mining companies in Australia and Canada on the London market and used his expanding fortune to develop a country estate at Witley Park in Surrey.
In the 1890s Wright established the London & Globe Finance Corporation (L&GFC) as a method of financing more mining issues. The L&GFC also took over the Baker Street & Waterloo Railway in 1897. In 1899, Wright manipulated the accounts of various L&GFC companies to conceal large losses by one of its mines. The fraud was discovered in December 1900 and the corporation collapsed. In 1904, Wright was sentence to seven years imprisonment at the Royal Courts of Justice, but committed suicide by swallowing cyanide immediately after the verdict was announced. (Full article...)
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Did you know...
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- ...that a stuffed puffer fish, a samurai sword, human skulls, breast implants and a lawnmower are amongst items handed into TfL's lost property office during its 75-year existence?
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Image 2Early style tube roundel in mosaic at Maida Vale Underground station.
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Image 555 Broadway, headquarters of the UERL and its successors, is a Grade I listed building in Westminster designed by Charles Holden.
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Image 6View of Old London Bridge, circa 1632 by Claude de Jongh.
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Image 7London Underground A60 Stock (left) and 1938 Stock (right) trains showing the difference in the sizes of the two types of rolling stock operated on the system. A60 stock trains operated on the surface and sub-surface sections of the Metropolitan line from 1961 to 2012 and 1938 Stock operated on various deep level tube lines from 1938 to 1988.
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Image 8The newly constructed junction of the Westway ( A40) and the West Cross Route ( A3220) at White City, circa 1970. Continuation of the West Cross Route northwards under the roundabout was cancelled leaving two short unused stubs for the slip roads that would have been provided for traffic joining or leaving the northern section.
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Image 10Arguably the best-preserved disused station building in London, this is the former Alexandra Palace station on the GNR Highgate branch (closed in 1954). It is now in use as a community centre (CUFOS).
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Image 11Planes waiting at Heathrow Airport's Terminal 4.
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Image 14Hornsey Lane Bridge, Archway, more commonly known as "Suicide Bridge".
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Image 15Hammersmith Bridge, opened in 1887, crosses the River Thames in west London.
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Image 16Preserved AEC Routemaster coaches in London Transport Green Line livery.
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Image 17Ruislip Lido Railway's 12-inch (300 mm) gauge locomotive "Mad Bess" hauling a passenger train.
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Image 18Central London Railway poster, published in 1905.
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Image 19The Circle routes of Victorian London, comprising the Inner Circle, Middle Circle, Outer Circle and Super Outer Circle.
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Image 20Original stations on the Metropolitan Railway from The Illustrated London News, 27 December 1862.
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Image 22Vauxhall Bridge across the River Thames opened in 1906 and features sculptures by F. W. Pomeroy.
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Image 23Clapham Common Underground station north and south-bound platforms on the Northern line.
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Image 24Sailing ships at West India Docks on the Isle of Dogs in 1810. The docks opened in 1802 and closed in 1980 and have since been redeveloped as the Canary Wharf development.
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Image 25Qantas Boeing 747-400 about to land at Heathrow Airport, seen beyond the roofs of Myrtle Avenue, Hounslow.
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Image 26The original Hampton Court Bridge in 1753, the first of four on the site.
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Image 28Day (left) and Night (right) sculptures by Sir Jacob Epstein on the London Underground's headquarters at 55 Broadway.
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Image 29London Underground Battery-electric locomotive L16 designed to operate over tracks where the traction current is turned off for maintenance work.
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Image 32Woolwich Ferry boats "John Burns" and "James Newman" on the River Thames, 2012.
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Image 33Helicopter landing at London Heliport, a jetty constructed in the River Thames in Battersea.
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Image 34The multi-level junction between the M23 and M25 motorways near Merstham in Surrey. The M23 passes over the M25 with bridges carrying interchange slip roads for the two motorways in between.
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Image 35TX4 London Taxi at Heathrow Airport.
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Image 36Rail, road and river traffic, seen from the London Eye.
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Image 37Escalators at Westminster Underground station descend between beams and columns of the station box to reach the deep-level Jubilee line platforms.
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Image 38The south façade of King's Cross railway station London terminus of the East Coast Main Line.
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Image 39Albert Bridge, opened in 1873, crosses the River Thames between Chelsea and Battersea.
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Image 41Southern approach to the Rotherhithe Tunnel that runs under the River Thames in east London between Rotherhithe and Limehouse.
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Image 42Archer statue by Eric Aumonier at East Finchley Underground station.
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Image 44The western departures concourse of King's Cross railway station.
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Image 45London General Omnibus Company B-type bus B340 built in 1911 by AEC. One of a number of London buses purchased by the British military during World War I, this vehicle was operated on the Western Front.
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Image 46A tram of the London United Tramways at Boston Road, Hanwell, circa 1910.
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Image 47"Boris Bikes" from the Santander Cycles hire scheme waiting for use at a docking station in Victoria.
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Image 48Tram 2548 calls at Arena tram stop. This is one of the trams on the Tramlink network centred on Croydon in south London.
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Image 49The New Routemaster built by Wrightbus has three entrances, two staircases and is designed to be reminiscent of the Routemaster.
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