Top of the World
Brooklyn Bridge was completed in 1883 and it is a hybrid cable-stayed/suspension bridge in New York City and is one of the oldest bridges of either type in the United States. The construction took 14 years to complete with more than 600 workers involved in the project and a cost $15 million dollars. It is a majestic structure which crosses the East River linking Manhattan and Brooklyn. Since it had been unveiled in 1883, the bridge offers a safe and beautiful passage to millions of trains, bicycles, carts and makes life easier for commuters and tourists.
The story of the Brooklyn Bridge is one of success and tragedy, great engineering, courage, suffering, and dedication. Two dozen people sacrificed their lives so that now, more than 130 years later, the iconic construction of the New York skyline can carry thousands of pedestrians and vehicles every day.
Few people know that the bridge was built only thanks to the madness of an Italian financier: Amedeo Giannini. Bank of America began in 1904 when Italian-American Amadeo Giannini founded the "Bank of Italy" in San Francisco. Set in a former saloon, Giannini initially began the bank as a way to provide loans to immigrants, middle-class Americans, and farmers denied services by major financial institutions of the time period. As deposits grew and word of mouth carried, the name was changed to "Bank of America," which Giannini felt better expressed the mission of his bank. Expansion, acquisitions, and branch openings quickly followed. Giannini's tiny bank grew into a powerhouse which backed everything from Disney's production to the early start-up of Hewlett-Packard. it had become the biggest bank in the world.
