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The first fatality came in 1869 before construction had even begun. German-born John A. Roebling, who designed the bridge, was taking compass readings one afternoon when his foot was crushed between some pilings and a boat. His toes were amputated, and a few weeks later he died of tetanus. Other workers fell off the 276-foot-high towers, were hit b...

A few high-profile collapses in the first half of the 19th century prevented suspension bridges from immediately catching on. Undeterred, Roebling figured out how to stabilize them, largely by adding a web truss to either side of the roadway platform. He built four suspension bridges in the 1850s and 1860s, including one over the Ohio River and ano...

Huge crowds gathered on May 24, 1883, to watch the bridge’s opening ceremony, which The New York Times described, in reference to Brooklyn, as “the greatest gala day in the history of that moral suburb.” President Chester A. Arthur, New York Governor (and future president) Grover Cleveland and various local politicians marched onto the bridge, acco...

A week after the opening, on Memorial Day, an estimated 20,000 people were on the bridge when panic started, allegedly over a rumor that it was about to collapse. Twelve people were crushed to death on a narrow stairway, and others emerged bloodied and in some cases without clothes. One eyewitness described men and women “with their limbs contorted...

When the Brooklyn Bridge first opened, it cost a penny to cross by foot, 5 cents for a horse and rider and 10 cents for a horse and wagon. Farm animals were allowed at a price of 5 cents per cow and 2 cents per sheep or hog. Under pressure from civic groups and commuters, the pedestrian toll was repealed in 1891. The roadway tolls were then rescind...

Brooklyn did not become part of New York City until 1898, following a referendum that passed there by just 277 votes (out of more than 129,000 cast). Prior to the merger, it was the fourth most populous city in the country—behind only New York, Chicago and Philadelphia—with loads of manufacturing jobs, many churches, relatively low crime and good s...

The Brooklyn Bridge has arguably inspired more art than any other manmade structure in the United States. Georgia O’Keeffe, Andy Warhol and dozens of other well-known painters have incorporated it into their works, as have photographers (Walker Evans); documentarians (Ken Burns); playwrights (Arthur Miller); novelists (Henry Miller); newspaper colu...

Circus entertainer P.T. Barnum took 21 elephants over the bridge in May 1884 to show that it was safe. The following year, Robert E. Odlum, a swimming instructor from Washington, D.C., became the first to leap into the East River below. He died, but a number of later jumpers survived, including one man allegedly trying to impress his girlfriend and...

Peregrine falcons are the fastest animals on record, capable of reaching speeds over 200 miles per hour. They disappeared from the eastern United States due to DDT poisoning but made a comeback after the pesticide was banned in 1972. Surprisingly, the birds soon began thriving in New York City, where they nest on bridges, church steeples and skyscr...