18831776 Club
A woman stumbles on the stair; twelve are crushed to death on the Brooklyn Bridge
The bridge had been open six days when a crowd collapsed into itself at the Brooklyn approach, killing at least a dozen of the people it was built to serve.
The Brooklyn Bridge had been open for six days when a woman stumbled on a stairway at the Brooklyn approach on May 30, 1883, and the crowd behind her collapsed into itself. At least twelve people were crushed and killed in the stampede that followed — the first deaths the new bridge claimed from the public it was built to serve. The Brooklyn Bridge Company was later acquitted of negligence, but the incident forced the installation of emergency phone boxes, additional railings, and a fireproofing plan…
