Why the Brooklyn Bridge was a record-breaking suspension bridge

The Brooklyn Bridge held the longest-span record

The Brooklyn Bridge opened in 1883 as the first steel-wire suspension bridge and remained the world’s longest suspension bridge until 1903.

Shipping containers made global trade dramatically cheaper

Before standardized containers, cargo often had to be unloaded piece by piece whenever it moved between ships, trains and trucks. Containers allow goods to stay sealed inside the same metal box throughout the journey. That reduces handling, damage and delays. A simple standardized object helped transform the economics of global trade.

~2,600 km² of Chernobyl Exclusion Zone

Chernobyl's abandoned zone turned back into forest

After people left the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, forests spread across much of the abandoned land and wildlife became common. The roughly 2,600-square-kilometer area remains contaminated and has very few permanent human residents.

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Why the Brooklyn Bridge was a record-breaking suspension bridge

The Brooklyn Bridge held the longest-span record

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