Today In History

On a typical cold and foggy May morning, an estimated 200,000 people came to celebrate the pedestrian opening of the Golden Gate Bridge. Autos will be allowed to cross at a later date. By 6am, the starting hour of Pedestrians Day, 18,000 people were waiting to cross the span from both the San Francisco and the Marin sides. When the hour struck, foghorns gave great blasts, the toll gates opened and the young and eager, mostly high school students -- ran or walked out onto the bridge. During the day, thousands of people competed to be the first to cross the bridge in some unique manner. Donald Bryan, a sprinter from San Francisco Junior College, was the first person to cross the entire span. People roller-skated, walked on stilts, walked backwards, walked dogs and cats, tap-danced, rode on unicycles, played harmonicas and tubas, all setting first-time records. That evening there was spectacular production, "The Span of Gold", a musical pageant of California history. "Photo courtesy of Golden Gate Bridge, www.goldengatebridge.org"