Adultery is extramarital sex, considered objectionable on social, moral, or legal grounds. Although the sexual activities that constitute adultery vary, as well as the social and legal consequences, the concept exists in many cultures and is similar in Christianity and Judaism. A single act of sexual intercourse is sufficient to constitute adultery, a more long-term sexual relationship is sometimes referred to as an affair. Many cultures considered adultery a serious crime, some subject to severe punishment for the woman and sometimes for the man, with penalties including capital punishment, mutilation, or torture; such punishments have fallen into disfavor in Western countries from the 19th century. In countries where adultery is still a criminal offense, punishments range from fines to caning and capital punishment. Since the 20th century, criminal laws against adultery have become controversial, with most Western countries decriminalising adultery; however in jurisdictions that have decriminalised adultery, it may still have legal consequences in jurisdictions with fault-based divorce laws, where adultery always constitutes a ground for divorce and may be a factor in property settlement, the custody of children, the denial of alimony, etc.

Adultery is not a ground for divorce in jurisdictions. International organizations have called for the decriminalisation of adultery in the light of several high-profile stoning cases that have occurred in some countries; the head of the United Nations expert body charged with identifying ways to eliminate laws that discriminate against women or are discriminatory to them in terms of implementation or impact, Kamala Chandrakirana, has stated that: "Adultery must not be classified as a criminal offence at all". A joint statement by the United Nations Working Group on discrimination against women in law and in practice states that: "Adultery as a criminal offence violates women’s human rights". In Muslim countries that follow Sharia law for criminal justice, the punishment for adultery may be stoning. There are fifteen countries in which stoning is authorized as lawful punishment, though in recent times it has been carried out only in Iran and Somalia. Most countries that criminalize adultery are those where the dominant religion is Islam, several Sub-Saharan African Christian-majority countries, but there are some notable exceptions to this rule, namely Philippines and several U.

S. states. In some jurisdictions, having sexual relations with the king's wife or the wife of his eldest son constitutes treason; the term adultery refers to sexual acts between a married person and someone, not that person's spouse. It may arise in a number of contexts. In criminal law, adultery was a criminal offence in many countries in the past, is still a crime in some countries today. In family law, adultery may be a ground for divorce, with the legal definition of adultery being "physical contact with an alien and unlawful organ", while in some countries today, adultery is not in itself grounds for divorce. Extramarital sexual acts not fitting this definition are not "adultery" though they may constitute "unreasonable behavior" a ground of divorce. Another issue is the issue of paternity of a child; the application of the term to the act appears to arise from the idea that "criminal intercourse with a married woman... tended to adulterate the issue of an innocent husband... and to expose him to support and provide for another man's ".

Thus, the "purity" of the children of a marriage is corrupted, the inheritance is altered. Some adultery laws differentiate based on the sex of the participants, as a result such laws are seen as discriminatory, in some jurisdictions they have been struck down by courts on the basis that they discriminated against women; the term adultery, rather than extramarital sex, implies a moral condemnation of the act. Adultery refers to sexual relations which are not legitimized. In archaic law, there was a tort of criminal conversation arising from adultery, "conversation" being an archaic euphemism for sexual intercourse, it was a tort action brought by a husband against a third party who interfered with the marriage relationship. This tort has been abolished in all jurisdictions, but continues to apply, for example, in some states in the United States. Marital infidelity has been used in the past, as a legal defence of provocation to a criminal charge, such as murder or assault. In some jurisdictions, the defence of provocation has been replaced by a partial defence or provocation or the behaviour of the victim can be invoked as a mitigating factor in sentencing.

In the traditional English common law, adultery was a felony. Although the legal definition of adultery differs in nearly every legal system, the common theme is sexual relations outside of marriage, in one form or another. Traditionally, many cultures Latin American ones, had strong double standards regarding male and female adultery, with the latter being seen as a much more serious violation. Adultery involving a married woman and a man other than her husband was considered a serious crime. In 1707, English Lord Chief Justice John Holt stated that a man having sexual r

The Calvin Coolidge Memorial Bridge is a major crossing of the Connecticut River in western Massachusetts, connecting the towns of Northampton and Hadley. The bridge carries Route 9 across the river, where it connects to Interstate 91; the bridge is a major bottleneck in Hampshire County—the only major hospital in the county, Cooley-Dickinson, is located in Northampton on the western side of the bridge. The road approaching the bridge is known as Bridge St. in Russell St. in Hadley. The Calvin Coolidge Memorial Bridge is a five-span, single intersection Warren deck truss bridge with distinctive design on its granite-faced abutment pylons. Art Deco ornamentation on the pylons incised carved lettering; the bridge, a replacement of a previous structure destroyed in the 1936 flood, was funded under the Hayden Cartwright Act, one of the numerous federal aid programs designed to provide construction jobs during the Great Depression. It was designed by W & L Engineering Co. in conjunction with Maurice A. Reidy as consultant and Desmond and Lord as architects.

The bridge was built by T. Stuart & Sons; the bridge was named as a memorial to President Calvin Coolidge, a longtime resident and former mayor of Northampton. Coolidge was elected to the State Senate and the governorship of Massachusetts before being elected President of the United States. A bronze memorial plaque of Calvin Coolidge is mounted on southwest pylons; the bridge features large, distinctive granite-faced pylons in the Art Deco style, measuring 15 by 27 feet at the base. On the northwest and southeast pylons are bronze doors that provide access to a small room used as posts for air raid wardens during World War II; the 3 1⁄2-foot-high welded steel Art Deco bridge rail is mounted at the back of the sidewalk on the north side of the bridge and on the bridge parapet on the south side where there is no sidewalk. It is a weathered green color. Integral to the rail are light standard posts supporting cobra head luminaires; the cobra head luminaires replaced the original low-pressure sodium lamp fixtures developed by General Electric.

These lamps were based on a European model and introduced to the U. S. market in 1933. However, the yellow/orange, monochromatic light produced by the luminaire became unpopular with the motoring public, use of the lamps was discontinued as color-corrected light sources became available. In 2001, the Massachusetts Highway Department began a major improvement of the Coolidge Bridge, that cost a total of $32 million which included: Widening the bridge from 3 lanes to 4 lanes, i.e. 2 travel lanes in each direction Replacement of the deteriorated bridge deck Refurbishing the historic Art Deco bridge railing and integrated light fixtures Cleaning and restoration of all granite facing Installation of a new 5-foot sidewalk on the north side of the bridge Repairing and improving the bridge approach roadwaysIn 2007 the Massachusetts Historical Commission determined that the Calvin Coolidge Bridge was not eligible for individual listing in the National Register of Historic Places but was eligible for listing as a contributing element in the pending expansion of the Hadley Center Historic District.

In 1994, the bridge was included as a contributing element to the Hadley Center Historic District. List of crossings of the Connecticut River Mass Traveler Western Massachusetts traffic info, including webcams of the Coolidge Bridge

Edward Pulsford was an English-born Australian politician and free-trade campaigner. Pulsford established a successful business with his father as commission agents in Yorkshire before moving his interests to New South Wales in 1883. There he became a vigorous campaigner for free trade, was a co-founder of the Free Trade and Liberal Association in that colony, the body that would become the machine behind the Free Trade Party. Although his attempts to enter the New South Wales Legislative Assembly were abortive, he was appointed to the Legislative Council in 1895 and served until 1901, when he was elected to the Senate. An uncompromising opponent of all forms of protectionism, following the 1909 Fusion of the anti-Labour forces he joined the Liberal Party only with reluctance. Pulsford is remembered for his avid opposition to the White Australia policy and other forms of racial discrimination. Whilst financial editor of the Daily Telegraph he attacked restrictive immigration laws, he fought against the policy in the state parliament and in the Senate, where he was one of the few to oppose the 1901 Immigration Restriction Act.

This racial tolerance, combined with his opposition to women's suffrage, has led the economist John Hawkins to describe him as "probably the least racist but the most sexist member of the Australian Senate in its first decade". Edward Pulsford was born at Burslem in Staffordshire on 29 September 1844, his mother was Mary Ann, née Cutler, his father, James Eustace Pulsford, was a Baptist minister and businessman. He worked with his father as a commission agent. On 23 February 1870, he married Mary Charlotte Stainforth at Hull. In 1883 Edward embarked for New South Wales, while his father travelled to New York to become resident secretary of the Liverpool, London & Globe Insurance Company. After his arrival in Sydney, Pulsford became involved in the free trade cause, in 1885 he co-founded the Free Trade and Liberal Association of New South Wales with Bernhard Wise, his campaigning on behalf of free trade led to his becoming an honorary member of the Cobden Club. From its foundation until 1891, Pulsford was secretary of the FTLA, became an organiser and ferocious pamphleteer.

He received a prize for an essay on "The Beneficial Influence of a Free Trade Policy upon the Colony of New South Wales", written as a contribution to the 1887 centennial edition of the Year-Book of Australia. He became involved in journalism as proprietor of the Armidale Chronicle and financial editor of the Daily Telegraph from 1890 to 1898. While focusing overwhelmingly on free trade denigrating the neighbouring colony of Victoria's protectionist policies, he worked on the compilation of an Australian biographical supplement to Webster's International Dictionary and supported Federation. Pulsford was a leading proponent of the free-trade cause, although an intended candidacy for the New South Wales Legislative Assembly in 1891 did not eventuate, he had contested a by-election for East Sydney earlier that year, losing to protectionist candidate Walter Bradley. He was nominated to the New South Wales Legislative Council in 1895 by the Free Trade Premier, George Reid, he continued his support of free trade policies, but differentiated himself from his colleagues by opposing restrictions on Asian immigration.

He had expressed regret concerning the fate of the Australian Aborigines in a Telegraph article in 1888 and opposed Sir Henry Parkes's poll tax on the Chinese, now opposed the continuing restrictive measures passed in 1896 and 1898. He served as president of the Australian Free Trade and Liberal Association's New South Wales branch in 1900 and was deputy president of the federal election campaign committee, standing himself for the Senate in New South Wales. At the first federal election in March 1901, Pulsford was elected as a senator for New South Wales in the sixth and final position, narrowly defeating fellow Free Trader John Gray, he continued his fervent support of free trade and was one of the few senators to oppose the White Australia policy, describing "the whole of the inhabitants of Asia as friends". He opposed the 1901 Immigration Restriction Act, supported Asians' eligibility for the old-age pension, decried the treatment of Kanaka labourers as "cattle". In his opposition to immigration restriction he highlighted the diplomatic insult to Japan and other Asian nations, published a pamphlet in 1905 supporting the protestations of the Japanese government against the policy.

Pulsford spoke for five hours in the debate on the 1902 Customs Tariff Bill, although he supported time limits for speeches. Missing out on a frontbench portfolio when the Free Traders were in government from 1904 to 1905, he was absent from parliament for most of 1907. Described by the Tribune as "the best living authority on Australia's tariff question", his pamphlet to the Cobden Club in 1907 attracted a favourable reception, he opposed women's suffrage on the grounds that it would put Australia "in advance of public opinion throughout the world", believing it would lead to the "vulgarisation of women". The Fusion in 1909 between the Free Trade and Protectionist parties to form the Liberal Party was difficult for Pulsford, who had "no faith in either the old Protection or the new Protection", although he did join the new party, his support of any protectionist legislation would be "in order to show that all such legislation must be a failure", he was defeated at the 1910 election when the Labour Party won all the Senate seats in New South Wales.

Pulsford continued his suppor