Good morning, Whitewater.
Sunday in Whitewater will be rainy, with thunderstorms, and a high of sixty-five. Sunrise is 5:22 and sunset 8:20, for 14h 56m 38s of daytime. The moon is a waxing crescent with 38.6% of its visible disk illuminated.
Friday’s FW poll asked whether, in the effort to save endangered species, a priority should go to pandas (as a high-profile, sharp-looking animal). A majority of respondents (60%) said that we should not prioritize panda survival, but that we should develop a different set of standards.
The Brooklyn Bridge, viewed from Manhattan. Via Wikipedia.
On this day in 1883, the Brooklyn Bridge opens to traffic:
The bridge—originally referred to as the New York and Brooklyn Bridge and as the East River Bridge[citation needed]— was opened for use on May 24, 1883. The opening ceremony was attended by several thousand people and many ships were present in the East Bay for the occasion. President Chester A. Arthur and Mayor Franklin Edson crossed the bridge to celebratory cannon fire and were greeted by Brooklyn Mayor Seth Low when they reached the Brooklyn-side tower.[26] Arthur shook hands with Washington Roebling at the latter’s home, after the ceremony. Roebling was unable to attend the ceremony (and in fact rarely visited the site again), but held a celebratory banquet at his house on the day of the bridge opening. Further festivity included the performance of a band, gunfire from ships, and a fireworks display.[27]
On that first day, a total of 1,800 vehicles and 150,300 people crossed what was then the only land passage between Manhattan and Brooklyn. Emily Warren Roebling was the first to cross the bridge. The bridge’s main span over the East River is 1,595 feet 6 inches (486.3 m). The bridge cost US$15.5 million in 1883 dollars (about US$379,661,000 in today’s dollars) to build and an estimated number of 27 people died during its construction.[28]
On May 30, 1883, six days after the opening, a rumor that the Bridge was going to collapse caused a stampede, which was responsible for at least twelve people being crushed and killed.[29] On May 17, 1884, P. T. Barnum helped to squelch doubts about the bridge’s stability—while publicizing his famous circus—when one of his most famous attractions, Jumbo, led a parade of 21 elephants over the Brooklyn Bridge.[30][31][32][33]
Sixteen years later, in 1899, Thomas Edison’s company filmed a crossing from Brooklyn into New York: