Tuesday 15th February

Cleopatra's needle (with seagull atop). There are three of these, in London, New York and Paris. The first two are a pair from the same archaeological site in Egypt. However, all three pre-date Cleopatra's reign by a thousand years, dating from 1450BC in Heliopolis. The current site is close to the Embankment underground station. The obleisk was presented to the United Kingdom in 1819 by the ruler of Egypt and Sudan Muhammad Ali (honestly), in commemoration of the victories of Lord Nelson at the Battle of the Nile and Sir Ralph Abercromby at the Battle of Alexandria in 1801. However, the British governemnt declined to pay for transport until 1877, when Sir William Wilson put up ten thousand pounds to pay for the delivery. On the way, the transport ship foundered in the Bat of Biscay, and six men drowned, commemorated by a brass plaque on the base of the monument.