Bridge to the Future: Golden Gate Connects San Francisco
The Golden Gate Bridge opened to pedestrian traffic on May 27, 1937, with 200,000 people walking across on the first day. Vehicle traffic began the following day when President Franklin Roosevelt pressed a telegraph key in Washington to signal the opening. The bridge took four years to build at a cost of $35 million. Chief engineer Joseph Strauss installed a safety net under the bridge during construction that saved 19 lives; those workers called themselves the "Halfway to Hell Club." The bridge's distinctive International Orange color was originally just the primer coat, but consulting architect Irving Morrow loved it so much he made it permanent. The bridge spans 4,200 feet across the Golden Gate strait and revolutionized commuter travel to Marin County, triggering a suburban housing boom.
May 28, 1937
89 years ago
Key Figures & Places
What Else Happened on May 28
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Li Shimin had 3,500 cavalry. Dou Jiande brought 100,000 men to Hulao Pass in Henan. The numbers didn't matter. Shimin's father had just founded the Tang Dynasty…
They murdered the inquisitors in their sleep. William Arnaud and eleven companions were hunting heretics in Languedoc when Cathars stormed their lodgings at Avi…
They called it "everlasting." James IV of Scotland married Margaret Tudor in 1503, her father Henry VII footing the bill for a wedding that cost more than Scotl…
Cranmer didn't even have the authority yet—his papal bulls confirming him as Archbishop wouldn't arrive for another two months. But Henry needed this marriage l…
The popular narrative of the Spanish Armada's defeat in 1588 oversimplifies what was actually a drawn-out campaign. The Armada sailed from Lisbon on May 28, 158…
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