Engineer who built London's famous Tower Bridge honored by British heritage agency

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The renowned civil engineer who built Tower Bridge, one of London's most famous landmarks, is among the latest famous people to be commemorated by the official agency English Heritage.

Sir John Wolfe Barry was one of the most prominent and highly-respected civil engineers of the late 19th century, building numerous key projects in London.

But it was the construction of Tower Bridge that earned him world-wide renown and left London with one of its most famous landmarks.

English Heritage announced Tuesday that a new blue plaque will mark the large Norman Shaw designed building overlooking the River Thames that was the engineer's home from 1909 until his death in 1918.

A recognized industry leader, Wolfe Barry was in 1896 elected President of the Institution of Civil Engineers.

As well as Wolfe Barry, the reggae singing sensation Bob Marley, a pioneering war correspondent and Britain's first ever female dentist are also to be honored with blue plaques in 2019, English Heritage announced.

A blue plaque will commemorate Lilian Lindsay (1871-1960), the first woman to qualify as a dentist in Britain, having overcoming many obstacles on the way.

Having tried, unsuccessfully, to enroll at the dental school of the National Dental Hospital, who interviewed her on the pavement outside, as women were not allowed to cross the threshold, and the Royal College of Surgeons, Lindsay went on to study dentistry at Edinburgh Dental Hospital and School, qualifying with honors in 1895.

War correspondent Martha Gellhorn (1908-1998) made her name writing about ordinary people living under the adversity of war. She fought for her place in the male bastion of war reporting in the early 20th century. The plaque will commemorate Gellhorn's 28-year residence in Cadogan Square in London.

A plaque will be installed at the Chelsea house where Jamaican singer-songwriter Bob Marley lived in 1977. It was while living there that Marley and the Wailers finished recording their famous album Exodus.

The house is also near the pitches in nearby Battersea Park where Marley and his band mates played football.

English Heritage trustee David Olusoga, said: "From engineering to music, this year's blue plaques remind us of the enormous range of human achievement.

"Lilian Lindsay and Martha Gellhorn were pioneering women who broke the glass ceiling in their professions and we are honored to recognize their achievements.

"Marley was more than a brilliant musician. He became a cultural icon who blazed a trail for other black artists.

"All of our blue plaque recipients called London home, at least for a while, and our plaques are a testament to the creativity and variety of this city."

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