On this date in 1883, after over 15 years of construction, the Brooklyn Bridge, connecting the cities of New York and Brooklyn, opened. 10 facts about the bridge:
It wasn’t called the Brooklyn Bridge when it opened. During construction, it had been referred to as the “Great East River Bridge” or the “Great East River Suspension Bridge." When it was opened it was dubbed the “New York and Brooklyn Bridge.” It wasn’t called the Brooklyn Bridge until 1915.
Construction of the first fixed crossing of the East River began on 2 January 1870. It was also the first bridge to use steel for cable wire. For a time, it was the longest bridge in the world with a span of just over 1,595 feet/486 metres. Its reign ended in 1890 when the Firth of Forth cantilever bridge in Scotland was built. It remained the longest suspension bridge in the world until 1903 when Williamsburg Bridge was built nearby.
Around 20-30 people lost their lives during construction (there were no official figures kept at the time). The first fatality was John A. Roebling, the designer of the bridge, who was taking readings for a survey before construction even started. His foot got crushed between pilings and a boat; he died of tetanus a few days later.
His son, Washington Roebling, took over the overseeing of the construction, but he suffered an accident too, and ended up bedridden. His wife, Emily Warren Roebling, stepped in to help. At first, her job was mainly to relay messages from her husband to the site, but she ended up doing much more and ended up taking charge of overseeing the design, construction, and business management. Once the bridge was finished, Emily was regarded as a pioneering female engineer. She went on to take a degree in law.
A number of the deaths and injuries, including that of Washington Roebling, were caused by decompression sickness, or the bends. This was because they had to work in underground structures called caissons, sealed chambers that kept the riverbed dry and allowed for digging. The air inside was compressed and coming back up could cause decompression sickness. Doctors at the time didn’t know what it was, and called the condition “caisson disease”.
Emily Warren Roebling was the first person to cross the bridge when it opened. She rode over in a carriage with a rooster on her lap, the bird being a symbol of good luck and victory. After that, President Chester Arthur, New York Governor (and future president) Grover Cleveland and various local politicians marched onto the bridge, along with a military band and troops. When they reached the opposite side a cannon was fired and there was a Firework display that lasted for an hour. There were speeches and receptions before the bridge opened to the public. More than 150,000 people went across in the first day.
However, the bridge’s troubles weren’t quite over. About a week later there was a stampede in which 12 people were crushed on a crowded stairwell. It started because of a rumour that the bridge was about to collapse. No changes came about in the immediate aftermath of the tragedy, except that more police were stationed on the pedestrian promenade. Fears that the bridge could collapse didn’t go away, and to show that it was perfectly safe, P.T. Barnum took 21 Elephants over the bridge in May 1884.
When the bridge first opened, people had to pay a toll to cross. It cost one cent to cross by foot, 5 cents for a Horse and rider and 10 cents for a horse and wagon. Farm animals cost 5 cents per Cow and 2 cents per Sheep or Pig. The pedestrian toll was repealed in 1891, and the vehicle toll in 1911 with the support of New York Mayor William J. Gaynor, who said, “I see no more reason for toll gates on the bridges than for toll gates on Fifth Avenue or Broadway.”
The engineers built vaults up to 50 feet tall into the bridge under its anchorages. These were rented out to the public as wine cellars until World War I. During the cold war, one of them was turned into a fallout shelter which was rediscovered in 2006 during a routine structural inspection of the bridge.
The bridge appears in works by Georgia O'Keeffe and Andy Warhol, and has been a filming location many times. It Happened in Brooklyn, Moonstruck, Godzilla and Spider-Man are among the films it has appeared in. It has also become home to a pair of peregrine falcons.
Beta
(Combat Team Series #2)
Steff was abducted by an evil alien race, the Orbs, at fourteen. Used as a weapon for years, he eventually escapes, but his problems are just beginning. How does a man support himself when his only work experience is a paper round and using an Orb bio-integrated gun?
Warlord is an alien soldier who knows little but war. When the centuries-old conflict which ravaged his planet ends, he seeks out another world where his skills are still relevant. There are always wars on Earth, it seems. However, none of Earth's powerful armies want him.
Natalie has always wanted to visit England and sees a chance to do so while using her martial arts skills, but there are sacrifices she must make in order to fulfil her dream.
Maggie resorted to crime to fund her sister's medical care. She uses her genetic variant abilities to gain access to the rooms of wealthy hotel guests. The Ballards look like rich pickings, but they are not what they seem. When Maggie targets them, little does she know that she is walking into a trap.
Hotel owner Hamilton Lonsdale puts together a combat team to pit against those of other multi-millionaires. He recruits Warlord, Natalie, Maggie and Steff along with a trained gorilla, a probability-altering alien, a stockbroker whose work of art proved to be much more than he'd bargained for, a marketing officer who can create psionic forcefields, a teleporting member of the landed gentry, and a socially awkward fixer. This is Combat Team Beta.
Steff never talks about his time with the Orbs, until he finds a woman who lived through it, too. Steff believes he has finally found happiness, but it is destined to be short-lived. He is left with an unusual legacy which he and Team Beta struggle to comprehend; including why something out there seems determined to destroy it.
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