N is for Nelson

October 19, 2006

Nelson's Monument, atop Calton Hill in Edinburgh, Scotland. Not to be confused with Nelson's Column, in Trafalgar Square, London, or with Nelson's Pillar, in Dublin, Ireland, nor The Nelson Monument on Portsdown Hill on the south coast of England. There's also a Nelson's Tower in Forres, Scotland, but that's not this one. And this certainly isn't the Nelson Tower on Seventh Avenue in the Garment District.

But they all have one thing in common, and that is that they commemorate the memory and achievements of Vice Admiral Horatio Lord Nelson. Well, at least the first five do. The office building in Manhattan makes no references to British naval heroes anywhere on the edifice or in the rental agreements.

But the Brits really liked the guy, and he did defeat the French and Spanish navies at the battle of Trafalgar in 1805, with his fleet destroying twenty-two of the enemy's 33 ships, without losing a single one of their own. And he was killed there, too.

Long before Elvis, death was a great career move.