- When the first person ceremonially crossed the newly opened Brooklyn Bridge, she held a rooster in her lap for good luck
- To prove the Brooklyn Bridge was safe following an 1883 panic that caused 12 deaths, the city had P.T. Barnum march 21 elephants across it
- Until World War I engineers rented vault space in the Brooklyn Bridge supports to the public for use as wine cellars
- After the original engineer died and his son became ill in bridge-related incidents, the son’s wife took over as chief engineer, an early feminist victory
- During the Cold War, a compartment under the Brooklyn Bridge was fitted out as a fallout shelter
- For a 2010 re-painting, “Brooklyn Bridge Tan” won out over “Rawlins Red” when engineers could not agree on the original color
- The Brooklyn Bridge was the longest suspension bridge in the world for its first 20 years until the opening of the Williamsburg Bridge
