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This Happened

This Happened — September 20:  Lunch Atop A Skyscraper

On this day in 1932, the famous photo was taken that captured construction workers having lunch while sitting on a steel beam 850 feet above the ground during the construction of the Rockefeller Center in New York City.

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Who took the "Lunch Atop a Skyscraper" photograph?

The photograph was taken by Charles C. Ebbets, a photographer who documented various aspects of construction work during the early 20th century. The identities of the workers in the photo are not definitively known. They were construction workers who were part of the team working on the Rockefeller Center. The photograph has become a symbol of the hard work and daring nature of these laborers during the construction boom of the 1930s.

Why were the workers sitting on the steel beam during lunch in the "Lunch Atop a Skyscraper" photograph?

The workers were likely taking a break and having their lunch. While this might seem daring and risky to modern standards, such practices were not uncommon at the time. Construction safety regulations and equipment were not as advanced as they are today.

Is the "Lunch Atop a Skyscraper" photograph authentic or staged?

There has been some debate over whether the photograph was entirely spontaneous or staged for publicity purposes. While some accounts suggest that the photo was posed, many sources indicate that it captured a genuine moment of lunchtime relaxation for the workers.

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Geopolitics

Second Front? Tension In West Bank Reaching New Heights–  Mideast War, Day 21

Death count rises above 100 in the West Bank, as sources reports weapons flooding in through Iran.

Photo of people Palestinians throwing stones toward Israeli troops

Masked Palestinians youths use slingshots to hurl stones Friday toward Israeli troops during clashes with them following a solidarity march with the Palestinians living in Gaza

Jakob Mieszkowski-Lapping and Emma Albright

Massive protests materialized around the West Bank on Friday, and were particularly potent in Ramallah, the administrative capital of the Palestinian Authority, according to Al Jazeera journalist Hoda Abdel-Hamid who is reporting from the ground. The protestors are reportedly chanting in support of Hamas.

“You must not underestimate the amount of anxiety and fear that exists across the occupied West Bank,” said Abdel-Hamid. “I’ve been reporting for weeks now about the nightly Israeli raids and detentions. There is also the settler violence – an average of eight attacks a day and they are increasing.”

Weapons are “flooding” into the occupied West Bank through a complex network organized by Iran and its allies, mainly in Iraq and Syria, according to the Wall Street Journal. Israeli settlers are reportedly being armed by Israel’s government, at the direction of its far-right national security advisor Itamar Ben-Gvir.

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The Palestinian Health Ministry reported on Thursday that Israeli forces shot and killed a 17-year-old boy near Ramallah, bringing the total death count since October 7 in the West Bank to 105, according to Turkish state-run outlet Anadolu Agency.

Many of those deaths are attacks on Palestinians by Jewish settlers, which U.S. President Biden has denounced as “pouring gasoline on the fire.”

“The army has said it is ‘taking off its gloves’. So people are afraid,” said Abdel-Hamid.

Many have described the situation as a “powder keg.”

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