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Rapture at its height in the 50's

"I am Andrew Ryan, and I am here to ask you a question. Is a man not entitled to the sweat of his brow? 'No,' says the man in Washington, 'it belongs to the poor.' 'No,' says the man in the Vatican, 'it belongs to God.' 'No,' says the man in Moscow, 'it belongs to everyone.' I rejected those answers. Instead, I chose something different. I chose the impossible. I chose… Rapture. A city where the artist would not fear the censor. Where the scientist would not be bound by petty morality. Where the great would not be constrained by the small. And with the sweat of your brow, Rapture can become your city as well." -Andrew Ryan

Rapture is a massive underwater fictional city seen in the video games Bioshock 1 and Bioshock 2. Founded by Andrew Ryan to escape from the political, social and religious anxieties of a post-World War II world. It was established on November 5, 1946 and finished in late 1951. It is located at 63° 2' N, 29° 55' W, which places it at about 433 kilometers west of Iceland's capital, Reykjavik.Andrew Ryan named his city after the goal he set in mind: To create a paradise free from all the people he saw as "Parasites", a place of true rapture. The main purpose was to create a society free of religion and politics with the oath 'No gods, No Kings, only man'. This would-be utopia had its flaws. In Rapture's purely capitalistic society, there were no publicly funded social programs, everything within the city was privately owned and came with a price. This included the city's food, health care, sanitation and even its oxygen supply. The police and fire departments were subscription-based private companies such as Poppadopolis Police Department and Fontaine Firefighters. There were less restricted norms for businesses and labor, allowing unscrupulous business practices, but with competition and customer's choice balancing the market. The city was constructed in 1945 and was started with a sinker anchoring the structures to the sea bed. The sinker also allowed materials to be privately delivered from the surface.On December 31, 1958, a massive working-class uprising—the 1958 New Year's Eve Riots—was started by Atlas, with attacks in many upper-class locations. The 4 month conflict in 1958 caused massive deterioration to the city and some where killed. In the end, the majority of the population either became Splicers or were killed off by them, while others committed suicide or died of starvation. Thus, stable society in Rapture came to an end. In 1960 a plane crashes there and the events of Bioshock begin as the game follows a plot as you discover the cities past along with the 'big daddy' and 'little sister' testing. After the Rapture civil war most of the population became murderous 'Splicers' or where killed by them. Rapture was also kept secret to most of the surface though some artifacts spark rumors of its existence found in the 1980s. Most of the city is inspired by New York City itself with its high Skyline and huge population.

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