Completed in 1883, the Brooklyn Bridge was the longest suspension bridge in the world -- a distinction it held for 20 years. Its chief engineer, John Roebling, died from an injury sustained during construction before the bridge was finished. His son Washington took over but was struck by decompression sickness while working in the underwater foundations. He spent the next 11 years directing construction from his apartment window using binoculars, communicating through his wife Emily.

What you're looking at cost $15.5 million to build -- roughly $450 million today. The granite towers stand 276 feet above the river. During the opening celebration in 1883, a rumour spread that the bridge was about to collapse. The resulting stampede killed twelve people. The myth was so persistent that P.T. Barnum marched 21 elephants across the bridge two years later just to prove its stability.