Brooklyn Bridge
1. The Brooklyn Bridge, when it was made on May 24, 1883, was the largest bridge of its time, surpassing the size of any other bridge in the world. It was two times larger and two times heaver than any other bridge in the city. A bridge of this size was an extremely large feat in engineering at the time.
2. In building such a large bridge, casualties were inevitable. During the construction of this behemoth of a bridge, over 20 workers died, including the lead engineer, John Agustus Roebling, himself. His son, Washington Roebling, had to finish his fathers work, but sadly even he was injured in this build. Washington was paralyzed after he got the bends while trying to lay down the bedrock for the bridge. He would look at the progress of the bridge with a telescope from his home, where he would relay messages to the workers using his wife, Emily Roebling.
3. A week after it's opening, someone claimed to think that the bridge was collapsing. There was a stampede to get off of it which killed 12 people in the process. But, soon a circus owner had 21 elephants walk across the bridge, proving that it was sturdy.
4. Nicknamed the "Eighth Wonder of the World" because of its massive size
5. In 1889, the city of Brooklyn became a part of New York City, and this could be because of the bridge adding easy access between the two sides of the east river.
4. Nicknamed the "Eighth Wonder of the World" because of its massive size
5. In 1889, the city of Brooklyn became a part of New York City, and this could be because of the bridge adding easy access between the two sides of the east river.
Was Brooklyn already inhabited by a lot of people or did that start after the bridge was finished?
ReplyDeleteYes. Brooklyn was its own city, so the bridge brought the two cities together.
DeleteYes, Brooklyn was already a large city in its own right, and it was not yet incorporated as a borough into the larger concept of "New York City." In other words, it was still not part of the larger city politically -- but one can argue that the bridge helped make this possible, as Jon did in #5 above.
Deletehow did John Agustus Roebling die ?
ReplyDeleteHis foot was crushed by a boat that was pulling into the docks, it later got infected.
DeleteLife (and death) before antibiotics.
DeleteHere is another example of new technology driving economic growth (steel cables, suspension bridge, etc.)
ReplyDeleteThe story of the bridge's construction is really a family affair, as it took two generations of Roeblings (who both suffered terrible accidents) to finish it - as well as the participation of the son's wife, who played a crucial role.