The Brooklyn Bridge is one of America's famous suspension bridges, it is also the oldest. Extending over the East River at 1,825 metres it is able to link Manhattan and Long Island.

At the time that it was completed it was thought to be the longest bridge in the world. What made the bridge unique was that it was also the first suspension bridge to be built using steel wires.

The term Brooklyn Bridge is of recent usage. It was previously called the New York and Brooklyn Bridge and only subsequently referred to as the Brooklyn Bridge in a letter to the editor of the Daily Eagle in Brooklyn in 1867. However, it wasn't until 1915, that the bridge was officially named by the city's government as the Brooklyn Bridge. In 1964, the bridge was recognized as a National historic Landmark and ever since then the sight of the sleek looping bridge has become part of New York's unique skyline.

It was amid much fan fare that the bridge was opened in 1883. The structure bears the names of John, Washington, and Emily Warren Roebling as the constructors who began work on the landmark in 1870. It was finished only thirteen years later and is attributed to the efforts of the people named above. Emily Warrne Roebling in history books claims to be the driving force behind the structure. Her father-in-law John Roebling in 1872 had timbers from the bridge fall on his legs which left him paralyzed and later he succumbed to his injuries. This left the entire responsibility of its construction in the hands of Washington Roebling and his wife.

The bridge that stands today is not just a structure but a tribute to one woman's spirit. Emily Roebling's husband also suffered internal injuries due to decompression sickness, under his guidance and due to her education in higher maths and cable constructions she was able to stand in his place and supervise. It took eleven years of hard work and struggle for this magnificent structure to be built and still remains today as a symbol of the legacy, the Roeblings left behind.