Tacoma Narrows Collapses: Engineering Hubris Exposed
Four months. That's all it lasted. Engineer Leon Moisseiff designed the Tacoma Narrows Bridge with a sleek, shallow deck — elegant, modern, praised. But on November 7th, 40-mph winds didn't just shake it. They made it ripple like ribbon, twisting for hours before the whole structure tore apart and plunged into Puget Sound. Locals had nicknamed it "Galloping Gertie" for its wobble. Only one casualty: a dog named Tubby. But the real legacy isn't failure — it's that every suspension bridge built afterward exists because this one didn't.
November 7, 1940
86 years ago
Key Figures & Places
What Else Happened on November 7
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