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Edmund Sharpe (1809–1877) was an English architect, architectural historian, railway engineer, and sanitary reformer. Sharpe's main focus was on churches, and he was a pioneer in the use of terracotta as a structural material in church building, designing what were known as "pot" churches. He also designed secular buildings, including domestic properties and schools, and worked on the development of railways in Northwest England, designing bridges and planning new lines. In 1851 he resigned from his architectural practice, and in 1856 he moved from Lancaster, spending the remainder of his career mainly as a railway engineer. Sharpe was involved in Lancaster's civic affairs. He was an elected town councillor and served as mayor in 1848–49. Concerned about the town's poor water supply and sanitation, he championed the construction of new sewers and a waterworks. Sharpe achieved national recognition as an architectural historian. He published books of detailed architectural drawings, wrote a number of articles on architecture, devised a scheme for the classification of English Gothic architectural styles, and in 1875 was awarded the Royal Gold Medal of the Royal Institute of British Architects. (Full article...)

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November 12: Birth of Bahá'u'lláh, a holy day in the Bahá'í Faith

There are 27 buildings in Boston that stand at least 400 feet (122 m) in height. Boston (skyline pictured), the capital of the U.S. state of Massachusetts and the largest city in New England, is home to 251 completed high-rises overall; the majority of the city's skyscrapers are clustered in the Financial District and Back Bay neighborhoods. The tallest structure in Boston is the 60-story Hancock Place, more commonly known as the John Hancock Tower, which rises 790 feet (241 m) in the Back Bay district. Hancock Place is also the tallest building in New England and the 50th-tallest building in the United States. The second-tallest building in Boston is the Prudential Tower, which rises 52 floors and 749 feet (228 m). At the time of the Prudential Tower's completion in 1964, it stood as the tallest building in North America outside of New York City. Overall, with 46 skyscrapers rising at least 330 feet (100 m) in height, Boston's skyline is ranked 11th in the United States and 40th in the world. (Full list...)