Eero Saarinen was a Finnish American architect and industrial designer noted for his neo-futuristic style. Saarinen is known for designing the Washington Dulles International Airport outside Washington, D. C. the TWA Flight Center in New York City, the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Missouri, he was the son of noted Finnish architect Eliel Saarinen. Eero Saarinen was born on August 20, 1910, to Finnish architect Eliel Saarinen and his second wife, Louise, on his father's 37th birthday, they immigrated to the United States in 1923. He grew up in Bloomfield Hills, where his father taught and was dean of the Cranbrook Academy of Art, he took courses in sculpture and furniture design there, he had a close relationship with fellow students Charles and Ray Eames, became good friends with Florence Knoll. Saarinen began studies in sculpture at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière in Paris, France, in September 1929, he went on to study at the Yale School of Architecture, completing his studies in 1934. Subsequently, he toured Europe and North Africa for a year and returned for a year to his native Finland.

In 1940 Saarinen became a naturalized citizen of the United States. After his tour of Europe and North Africa, Saarinen returned to Cranbrook to work for his father and teach at the academy, his father's firm was Saarinen and Associates, headed by Eliel Saarinen and Robert Swansen from the late 1930s until Eliel's death in 1950. The firm was located in Bloomfield Hills, until 1961 when the practice was moved to Hamden, Connecticut. Saarinen first received critical recognition while still working for his father, for a chair designed together with Charles Eames for the Organic Design in Home Furnishings competition in 1940, for which they received first prize; the Tulip chair, like all other Saarinen chairs, was taken into production by the Knoll furniture company, founded by Hans Knoll, who married Saarinen family friend Florence Knoll. Further attention came while Saarinen was still working for his father when he took first prize in the 1948 competition for the design of the Gateway Arch National Park in St. Louis.

The memorial wasn't completed until the 1960s. The competition award was mistakenly sent to his father because both he and his father had entered the competition separately; when the committee sent out the letter stating Saarinen had won the competition, it was mistakenly addressed to his father. During his long association with Knoll he designed many important pieces of furniture including the Grasshopper lounge chair and ottoman, the Womb chair and ottoman, the Womb settee and arm chairs, his most famous Tulip or Pedestal group, which featured side and arm chairs, dining and side tables, as well as a stool. All of these designs were successful except for the Grasshopper lounge chair, although in production through 1965, was not a big success. One of Saarinen's earliest works to receive international acclaim is the Crow Island School in Winnetka, Illinois; the first major work by Saarinen, in collaboration with his father, was the General Motors Technical Center in Warren, which follows the rationalist design Miesian style, incorporating steel and glass but with the addition of accent of panels in two shades of blue.

The GM Technical Center was constructed in 1956, with Saarinen using models, which allowed him to share his ideas with others, gather input from other professionals. With the success of this project, Saarinen was invited by other major American corporations such as John Deere, IBM, CBS to design their new headquarters or other major corporate buildings. Despite the overall rational design philosophy, the interiors contained dramatic sweeping staircases, as well as furniture designed by Saarinen, such as the Pedestal series. In the 1950s he began to receive more commissions from American universities for campus designs and individual buildings; these include the Noyes dormitory at Vassar, Hill College House at the University of Pennsylvania, as well as the Ingalls ice rink, Ezra Stiles & Morse Colleges at Yale University, the MIT Chapel and neighboring Kresge Auditorium at MIT and the University of Chicago Law School building and grounds. Saarinen served on the jury for the Sydney Opera House commission in 1957 and was crucial in the selection of the now internationally known design by Jørn Utzon.

A jury which did not include Saarinen had discarded Utzon's design in the first round. After his father's death in July 1950, Saarinen founded his own architect's office, Eero Saarinen and Associates, he was the principal partner from 1950 until his death in 1961. Under Eero Saarinen, the firm carried out many of its most important works, including the Bell Labs Holmdel Complex in Holmdel Township, New Jersey. Many of these projects use catenary curves in their structural designs. In 1949–1950, Saarinen was hired by the then-new Brandeis University to create a master plan for the campus. Saarinen's plan A Foundation for Learning: Planning the Campus of Brandeis University, developed with Matthew Nowicki, called for a central academic

Alliance Rail Holdings is a railway company developing plans to operate passenger trains in the United Kingdom through its subsidiaries Great North Western Railway Company Limited and Grand Southern Railway. Despite various proposals, the company has not run any passenger services since its formation in 2009. Alliance has undertaken detailed timetabling and economic work to support its applications to the Office of Rail & Road. Alliance is headed by Richard McClean, managing director of Grand Central. A new development team was announced on 12 August 2010; the venture is wholly owned by Arriva. In August 2015, the ORR announced Alliance Rail's amended application to operate six trains per day from London Euston to Blackpool calling at Milton Keynes, Tamworth, Lichfield Trent Valley, Preston, Kirkham & Wesham and Poulton-le-Fylde had been successful. A 10-year access agreement was awarded with operations to commence in May 2018; these services were to have been operated by fellow Arriva subsidiary Grand Central.

The application proposed using 125mph tilting Class 390 Pendolinos, however with Alliance unable to negotiate a derogation to operate the rolling stock, the access rights lapsed in June 2017. Alliance applied for altered paths with InterCity 225 sets to commence operating from September 2019; as these are not able to tilt, their speed will be restricted to 110mph. Due to the lower speed, the revised service wll only call at Milton Keynes, Preston, Kirkham & Wesham and Poulton-le-Fylde. In June 2018, the Office of Rail and Road approved the new application for a seven-year track access application for five direct services; the service will be operated by Grand Central commencing in 2020. In November 2016, Alliance began consultation on a proposed London Waterloo to Southampton service, it was proposed to operate seven off-peak services per day from December 2017, calling at Wimbledon, Basingstoke and Eastleigh, with two peak services proposed from December 2018. It was set to use Class 442 trains.

Network Rail had identified available paths for Grand Southern to use. In March 2017, the Office of Rail and Road told Grand Southern to delay the application until the outcome of the South Western franchise was known. In March 2018, the ORR released an update confirming a delay to the application; the application was rejected in August 2018. The reason for the rejection was; the proposal generated only between £0.17 and £0.22 of new revenue for each pound abstracted from the incumbent operators, the ORR requires not less that £0.30, so it failed the "not abstractive" test. GNER, resurrecting the name of the defunct Sea Containers subsidiary lodged an application to operate from London King's Cross to Cleethorpes, Bradford Forster Square and Edinburgh from 2018; these were rejected in May 2016. It proposed in 2009 to operate services from London King's Cross to Scarborough via the Yorkshire Coast Line, Sheffield via Grantham and Middlesbrough, but these were rejected in 2010 by the ORR, it was proposed in December 2013 that services would run services between Kings Cross and Skipton, but these were withdrawn in 2014 by the ORR

MacCarthy spelled Macarthy, McCarthy or McCarty, is a Gaelic Irish clan originating from Munster, an area they ruled during the Middle Ages. It continues to be divided into several great branches; the MacCarthy Reagh, MacCarthy of Muskerry, MacCarthy of Duhallow dynasties were the three most important of these, after the central or MacCarthy Mór line. Their name, meaning "son of Cárthach", is a common surname; as a surname, its prevalent spelling in the English language is McCarthy. Several variants are found, such as McCarty as well as Carty. 60% of people with the surname in Ireland still live in County Cork where the family was powerful in the Middle Ages. The origin of the name begins with Carthach, an Eóganacht Chaisil king, who died in 1045 in a house fire deliberately started by one of the Lonergans. Carthach was a contemporary and bitter rival of High-King Brian Boru, what would become known as the McCarthy Clan was pushed out of its traditional homelands in the Golden Vale of Tipperary by the expansion of the O'Brien sept in the middle of the twelfth century.

Carthach's son was known as Muireadhach mac Carthaigh. Such ephemeral patronymics were common at the time. However, when Muireadhach died in 1092 his sons Tadhg and Cormac adopted Mac Carthaigh as an actual surname. Following the treaty of Glanmire in 1118, dividing the kingdom of Munster into Desmond and Thomond, this Tadhg became the first king of Desmond, comprising parts of the modern counties of Cork and Kerry. For five centuries they dominated much of Munster, with four major branches: those led by the MacCarthy Mór, nominal head of all the MacCarthys, who ruled over much of south Kerry, the Duhallow MacCarthys, who controlled northwest Cork; each of these families continued resistance to Norman and English encroachment up to the seventeenth century when, like all the Gaelic aristocracy, they lost everything. An exception was Macroom Castle, which passed to the White family of Bantry House, descendants of Cormac Láidir Mac Cárthaigh; this is part of the local golf club today. The Muskerry McCarthy's historical seat is Blarney Castle in County Cork.

Legend has it that the Blarney Stone was given as a gift to Cormac MacCarthy, King of Desmond, from king Robert the Bruce of Scotland, who presented the'magical' stone in gratitude for his assistance in the battle of Bannockburn in 1314. The third castle built on the site was built by another McCarthy descendant, Dermot McCarthy, in 1446. Dermot was known for his eloquence, hence the Blarney Stone's reputation for imparting the gift of the gab upon those who kiss it; the number of references to the MacCarthys in the Annals the "Annals of Innisfallen", is great. Carthach was the son of Saoirbhreathach, a Gaelic name, anglicised as Justin, in the latter form has been in continuous use among many branches of the McCarthys for centuries. Another male forename associated with them is Finghin, anglice Fineen, but for some centuries past, the name Florence has been used as its English form. From the thirteenth century, when Fineen MacCarthy decisively defeated the Geraldines in 1261, down to the present day, Fineen or Florence MacCarthys and Justin MacCarthys have been prominent among the many distinguished men of the name in Irish military and cultural history.

Until the dissolution of the kingdom in 1596, the crown was vested in the hereditary possession of the Mac Carthy. Eleven septs of the illustrious McCarthy family in Kerry are given in Kings History of Co. Kerry Sliocht Owen More of Coshmaing Sliocht Cormaic of Dunguile Sliocht Fineen Duff of Ardeanaght Sliocht Clan Donell Finn Sliocht nInghean Riddery Sliocht Donell Brick Sliocht Nedeen Sliocht Clan Teige Kittagh Sliocht Clan Dermod Sliocht Clan Donell Roe Sliocht MacFineenThe MacCarthys are related to a number of other Munster families; these include the O'Sullivans, O'Callaghans, O'Keeffes, O'Donoghues, O'Donovans. An early sept of the MacCarthys themselves are the MacAuliffes. Rulers of the Kingdom of Desmond, the MacCarthys stood among the greatest Irish dynasties of the last millennium. Florence MacCarthy, Irish prince, 1563–1640 Cormac MacCarthy, Lord of Muskerry, Irish noble, d. 1536 Sir Cormac MacCarthy, great-grandson of Cormac MacCarthy, Lord of Muskerry, d. 1616 Cormac MacCarthy, Viscount Muskerry and Baron of Blarney, son of Sir Cormac MacCarthy, d. 1640 Donagh MacCarthy, Viscount Muskerry and Earl of Clancarty, son of Sir Cormac MacCarthy, d. 1665 Charles MacCarthy, soldier in French and English service, d. 1665 Justin MacCarthy, Viscount Mountcashel, younger son of Donough MacCarthy, Viscount Muskerry, d. 1694 Donough MacCarthy, 4th Earl of Clancarty, grandson of Donough MacCarthy, Viscount Muskerry, 1670–1734 Nicholas Tuite MacCarthy, renowned Jesuit Preacher, 1769–1833 Charles MacCarthy, Irish-born soldier who served in the French and British armies, 1764–1824 Robert MacCarty, Viscount Muskerry, Irish Royal Navy officer and colonial administrator, 1685–1769 Tadhg, eldest son of Muiredach, 1118–1123 Cormac Mac Carthaigh, his brother, 1123–1127 & 1127–1138 Donogh, his brother, 1127 & 1138–1143 Dermod, his nephew, 1143–1185 Donal, his son, 1185–1206 Fingen, his br