Today in 1883, after 14 years of construction the Brooklyn bridge finally is open for use. Thousands of residents turned out to watch the historic joining of two famous cities, New York and Brooklyn. The brain behind the design was German-born John Roebling, creating the largest suspension bridge to date. Roebling was able to make a breakthrough in bridge stability, earning him a reputation for creating suspension bridges. With this in hand, Roebling built bridges across Niagara Falls, the Ohio River, and New York.
Construction for the bridge was set to start around 1969, however, Roebling was seriously injured and got tetanus. John Roebling would later die, but the bridge would not as his son, Washington Roebling took over the job. When the bridge officially opened, around 250,000 pedestrians walked across in just 24 hours. Standing as such an icon, the Brooklyn Bridge was later seen as the eight wonder of the world.
