Kirjahaku

In 1815, a small paddle-wheeled steamship left the River Clyde and made the long and hazardous journey down the coast of Britain to the Thames. In doing so, she made a monumental journey at a speed of about five knots into the history books and became the first ever steamship to sail on the Thames. Her name was the Margery and she was to become the first of many steamers on the Thames. By 1830 there were about fifty steamships on the river, plying their trade, sailing to the Continent and back, and taking day trippers to the coast.The Thames had also become one of the shipbuilding centres for the steamers, with engine manufacturers and shipbuilders along the length of the Thames in east London. Tim Sherwood tells the story of the Thames’ first steamships and the revolution in trade and tourism that occurred as a result.

Yerkes' impact upon London was seismic and his legacy controversial. He made his fortune in the Chicago Street railways but his shady deals and turbulent private life led him to London seeking a new playground, having married his latest mistress, 40 years his junior. He undertook the electrification of the District Railway and constructed the tubes which developed into the Northern, Piccadilly and Bakerloo lines. He bought up London Tramways and built the biggest power station in the world at Lots Road, Chelsea. He overcame obstacles at a time when state involvement was minimal and revolutionised travel for Londoners, contesting another American tycoon, J.P. Morgan, evading Parliamentary scrutiny, and setting up syndicates as an early form of private equity. In the end, Yerkes' resources were drained by London's transport problems and when he died his affairs were in chaos. The events of his life formed the basis for the Theodore Dreiser novels, The Financier, The Titan and The Stoic, in which Yerkes was fictionalised as Frank Copperwood. The Yerkes crater on the moon is named in his honour.