Leicester Square one bust each of famous former residents in the square: the scientist Sir Isaac Newton designed by W. Calder Marshall; Sir Joshua Reynolds, the first President of the Royal Academy by H. Weekes; John Hunter, a pioneer of surgery, by T. Wooler; and William Hogarth, the painter, by J. Durham. Ownership transferred to Westminster City Council in 1933. The most recent addition was a bronze statue of film star and director Charlie Chaplin, designed by sculptor John Doubleday in 1981. On the pavement were inscribed the distances in miles to several Commonwealth countries, including Canada, Kenya and Jamaica. After the
Firdos Square statue destruction Firdos Square statue destruction The destruction of the Firdos Square statue was an event in the invasion of Iraq in 2003 that marked the symbolic end of the Battle of Baghdad. The event took place on April 9, 2003. In April 2002, the 12-meter (39 ft) statue was erected in honor of the 65th birthday of Saddam Hussein. In the afternoon of April 9, 2003, a group of Iraqi civilians started to attack the statue. One such futile attempt by sledgehammer wielding weightlifter Kadhem Sharif particularly caught media attention. Shortly after, an advance unit of the United States Marine Corps