Good News in History, July 11

88 years ago today, The RFK Bridge, also known as the Triborough Bridge, opened to traffic in New York City. Together, the series of bridges and viaducts span over 5,000 feet and link the boroughs of Manhattan, Queens, and the Bronx. The first section of the complex passes over the Harlem River, and is the largest vertical-lift bridge in the world, while the second section connects Randalls Island with the Bronx, and the third connects Wards Island to Astoria in Queens over the East River. READ how they were built… (1938)

The bridge complex was designed by Allston Dana with the collaboration of Othmar Ammann and architect Aymar Embury II, and has been called “not a bridge so much as a traffic machine, the largest ever built”.

Of the interesting structural elements, the East River Suspension bridge towers on the Wards Island side were placed atop 400,000 steel ball bearings, which allow the bridge to freely shift 13.5 inches in either direction. The suspension cables, which together hold over 10,800 miles of wiring are held in anchorages that hold them fast beneath the weight of 130,000 tons of concrete.

The Harlem Vertical Lift Bridge has the largest main span of any such bridge in the world, but in order to keep weight down, asphalt was applied directly onto steel girders. With this weight saving, the central span, which can be raised and lowered to allow boats to pass under, stretches 310 feet.

The American Society of Civil Engineers designated the Triborough Bridge Project as a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark in 1986.

 MORE Good News on this Day:

• “Get Down, You Fool!” was shouted to him, as Abraham Lincoln survived in battle as the only US president to come under enemy fire (1864)
• Babe Ruth made his debut in Major League baseball. He began his career as an outstanding pitcher, twice winning 20 games, but wanted to play every day so converted to an outfielder. He responded by breaking the MLB single-season home run record in 1919. His career record of 714 home runs stood for 39 years and other batting (and some pitching) records remain unbroken today. (1914)
• The Hollywood Bowl opened (1922)
• The Triborough Bridge linking Manhattan, Bronx, and Queens opened (1936)
• To Kill a Mockingbird written by Harper Lee was first published (1960)
• Transatlantic satellite television was transmitted for the first time (1962)
• Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was posthumously awarded the Medal of Freedom (1977)
• Nolan Ryan became the first major league pitcher to earn 4,000 strikeouts in a career (1985)
• Full diplomatic relations were established between the United States and its former enemy Vietnam (1995)

131 years ago today, a Japanese entrepreneur named Mikimoto Kōkichi created the first cultured pearl and subsequently started the cultured pearl industry with the establishment of his luxury pearl company Mikimoto. He was posthumously awarded the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Sacred Treasure, and in 1985, the Japan Patent Office selected him as one of Ten Japanese Great Inventors.

Leaving school to sell vegetables to support his family, young Mikimoto became fascinated with pearls while watching the pearl divers of the town of Ise bring in their catch during the day. 7 years later, as the judge of a pearl exhibition, he noted how many flaws pearls tended to have, and how often they had them. This began his search for the perfect pearl.

In 1888, Mikimoto obtained a loan to start his first pearl oyster farm at the Shinmei inlet on Ago Bay in Mie prefecture, but due to public confusion over exactly what his cultured pearls were, he opened a jewelry shop in Ginza, Tokyo, where workers would educate customers on the differences and techniques used in cultured pearls. Thomas Edison was in awe of Mikimoto’s cultured pearls as it was “supposed to be biologically impossible.”

After World War II, Mikimoto opened stores in Paris, New York City, Chicago, Boston, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Shanghai, and Bombay, and was thus one of the first Japanese brands to attain an international presence and recognition.

In 2010–11, Mikimoto Pearl Company estimated €300 million in total sales, while in June 2013, the company was chosen to design and procure five jewels consisting of a brooch, necklace, earrings, bracelet, and the state diadem of Princess Kako of Akishino for her 20th birthday anniversary, valued at (US$279,000). (1893)

125 years ago today, Fabbrica Italiano Automobili di Torino or “Fiat” automobiles was founded in Torino by Giovanni Agnelli. The first Fiat plant opened in 1900 with 35 staff making 24 cars, and the firm became known for the talent and creativity of their engineers. It would survive both world wars, fascism, the fall of the monarchy, and the rise of the Japanese car market.

In 2011, Americans who didn’t have an interest in cars were introduced to the reality that there were Italian cars other than Ferarri, Lamborghini, and Maserati, when Fiat re-entered the American market with one of their great staples: the Fiat 500. Such a small car, while ideal for the narrow streets of Italy, became a regular, albeit adorable sight, on American roads.

49 years ago today Fleetwood Mac released their ‘White Album’, a hugely successful LP featuring a new couple who had just joined the band—the singer-songwriting duo Lindsey Buckingham (on guitar) and Stevie Nicks.

The album reached No.1 on the Billboard chart and spent 37 weeks within the top 10, thanks to its three hit singles, Over My Head, Rhiannon, and Say That You Love Me. The cover image features two of the band’s co-founders Mick Fleetwood and John (Mac) McVie.

After Bob Welch departed Fleetwood Mac in late 1974, the band was in search of another guitarist and found Buckingham, who said he would only join if Stevie come aboard, too. Their harmonies melded perfectly with Christine McVie the band’s singer-songwriter and keyboardist.

The album was certified seven times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America for sales of over seven million copies, and led to the band’s pinnacle work, Rumors the following year.  (1975)

And, on this day 165 years ago, Big Ben, the bell in the world’s largest chiming clock tower first rang out over London from its new perch as part of Westminster Palace, home to the Houses of Parliament.

It took 30 hours to winch the bell, named Big Ben, into the tower’s belfry. The origin of the name is thought to come from Sir Benjamin Hall, the First Commissioner of Works and Public Buildings, whose name is inscribed on the bell. (1859)

Also on this day 25 years ago, a U.S. Air Force jet flew to the Antarctic to drop off emergency medical supplies to a South Pole research center for physician Dr. Jerri Nelson after she discovered a lump in her breast.

In winter, at a time when the station is physically cut off from the rest of the world, she had to operate on herself to extract tissue samples for analysis, and later wrote an auto-biography about it. The cancer later went into remission, but recurred seven years later, eventually causing her death. (1999)

And, 125 years ago today, E.B. White, the American journalist and author who penned the children’s classics Charlotte’s Web and Stuart Little, was born in Mount Vernon, New York.

He was a beloved staff writer at The New Yorker magazine for nearly six decades (and shunned all publicity) until his death in 1985. He was also a co-author of the iconic writer’s style guidebook, Strunk and White’s The Elements of Style—and he won the Pulitzer Special Award for Literature in 1978. Check out his third and less famous children’s book, The Trumpet of the Swan. (1899)

And, 32 years ago, a fashion line of eight ties designed by Jerry Garcia of The Grateful Dead went on sale in America.

President Bill Clinton bought a set, so did thousands of closet hippies who were now working in the 9-5 business world. The collection grossed millions by the end of the year. You can still buy dozens of the designer ties by Captain Trips on Amazon. Prior to becoming leader of the San Francisco band, Garcia attended the California School of Fine Arts. (1992)

54 years ago today, David Bowie released his renowned single Space Oddity. A song about the maiden launch of an astronaut named Major Tom, the song went public nine days before the world watched the Apollo 11 crew land on the moon. The fan favorite became Bowie’s first No. 1 hit in the UK.

WATCH the official music video produced a couple years later… (1969)

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