On this day in 1883, the Brooklyn Bridge opened. 
Spanning the Waters
On this day in 1883, the Brooklyn Bridge opened.
Nearly 14 years in construction at a cost of $16 million, the bridge links the boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn in New York City.
A brilliant feat of 19th-century engineering, the Brooklyn Bridge was the first bridge to use steel for cable wire, and during its construction explosives were used inside a pneumatic caisson for the first time. The masterwork of John Augustus Roebling, the Brooklyn Bridge was built (1869–83) in the face of immense difficulties. Roebling died as a result of an accident at the outset, and his son, Washington Roebling, taking over as chief engineer, suffered a crippling attack of caisson disease (the bends).
The Brooklyn Bridge's 1,595-foot (486-meter) main span was the longest in the world until the completion of the Firth of Forth cantilever bridge in Scotland in 1890.
Source: Encyclopedia Britannica Online at (http://www.eb.com).
Pictured: Louis Lozowick, 1892 Russia–1973 USA, Brooklyn Bridge, 1930, lithograph, 13 1/16 x 7 15/16 in., Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Adele Lozowick.