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N0KFQ > TODAY 27.05.11 22:10l 51 Lines 2365 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 8288_KB0WSA
Read: GUEST
Subj: Today in History - May 27
Path: IZ3LSV<IK6ZDE<VE3UIL<N0KFQ<KB0WSA
Sent: 110527/2006Z 8288@KB0WSA.MO.USA.NA BPQ1.0.4
May 27, 1937:
Golden Gate Bridge opens
On this day in 1937, the Golden Gate Bridge, connecting San
Francisco with Marin County, California, officially opens amid
citywide celebration.
Named for the narrow strait that marks the entrance to the San
Francisco Bay from the Pacific Ocean, the Golden Gate Bridge was
constructed from January 1933 to May 1937. At the time, it was
the longest suspension bridge in the world, at 4,200 feet. From
the beginning, the bridge's location posed challenges for its
construction, not least because of its proximity to the mighty
San Andreas Fault, which passes from north to south through the
San Francisco Bay area. In addition, the tumultuous waters of the
strait posed grave dangers for the underwater construction work
necessary to build the bridge.
Still, the engineer Joseph Strauss waged a tireless 16-year
campaign to convince skeptical city officials and other opponents
of the controversial project. On the bridge's opening day, he
triumphantly exclaimed: "The bridge which could not and should
not be built, which the War Department would not permit, which
the rocky foundation of the pier base would not support, which
would have no traffic to justify it, which would ruin the beauty
of the Golden Gate, which could not be completed within my costs
estimate of $27,165,000, stands before you in all its majestic
splendor, in complete refutation of every attack made upon it."
By 6 a.m. on May 27, 18,000 people were lined up on both the San
Francisco and Marin sides; in all, some 200,000 showed up that
day. At the appointed hour, a foghorn blew and the toll gates
opened, releasing the earliest arrivals, who rushed to be the
first to cross. Many schools, offices and stores were closed, and
the day was designated "Pedestrian Day." The next day, the bridge
opened to vehicular traffic. Across the country in the White
House, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt proclaimed the bridge
open to the world, and by the end of the day, more than 32,000
vehicles had paid tolls and crossed. According to the official
Web site of the Golden Gate Bridge, nearly 2 billion vehicles
have crossed the bridge (in both north- and southbound
directions) in the 70-plus years of its operation.
73, K.O. n0kfq
Another old retired guy
N0KFQ@N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA
E-mail: n0kfq@centurytel.net
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