Emperor Norton's Bridge
1933 to 1937 AD
1933 1937
122.29W37.48N
ARC

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA
	In 1869 the Oakland Daily News published a suggestion by Joshua Norton -- a local eccentric known to himself as Norton I, Emperor of the United States and Protector of Mexico -- that a bridge be built across the Golden Gate just north of San Francisco, California.
	Nobody took Norton's claim to a throne seriously, but his bridge plan had merit, and though it took a while his idea caught on and construction began on the Golden Gate Bridge in February 1933.
	The massive, bright orange structure was designed by bridge-builder Joseph B. Strauss.  It is a mile long and features cables that can each hold 200 million pounds, 746-foot-high towers that are the tallest in the world, and a main span that is 4,200 feet long.
	For 27 years after its completion in 1937, the $37 million bridge was the longest suspension bridge in the world.  Today it is superceded by the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge in New York Harbor.