The Brooklyn Bridge Rumor
Could a Rumor Kill 12 People?
The year was 1883. The Brooklyn Bridge was finally open and ready for business. It had taken 14 years to complete. It cost 15 million dollars at the time which would be about 400 million dollars if it were done today. It required over 600 laborers; 30 of which were lost in the process.
It required caissons filled with granite which ran from the surface down to solid bedrock; 78 feet on the Manhattan side and 44 feet on the Brooklyn side.
At the time, it was the longest suspension bridge in the world.
It's grand stature glistened over the East River in New York City, finally linking the two boroughs of Brooklyn and Manhattan.
On its opening day, May 24, 1883, 1,500 vehicles and over 150,000 people crossed the
bridge;
Flawlessly!.
Six days later, on May 30, 1883, a rumor started to spread; that the Brooklyn Bridge was about to collapse!
Upon hearing the rumor, a stampede erupted, killing 12 people.
How the rumor originated is still a mystery; especially considering that thousands attended the opening ceremony - without a problem!
The Mayor of New York crossed the bridge along with celebratory cannon fire - without a problem!
The Mayor of Brooklyn met the Mayor of New York on the opposite side - without a problem!
Less than a year later, on May 17, 1884, in order to stifle any future rumors and show the strength and stability of the bridge, P.T. Barnum of the Barnum and Bailey Circus led a group of 21 elephants across the Brooklyn Bridge - without a problem!
