nPostednon July 9, 2013
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nEverynonce in a while, a bridge collapses. One just collapsed a couple ofnmonths ago in Washington state—luckily, only three people sufferednminor injuries, and nobody died. The bridge was called “very, verynold” in a newspaper report. I had to dig around a lot to find outnhow old you have to be to be called “very, very old”—and Infinally discovered that the bridge was built in 1955.
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nWhichnmeans that I am older than the bridge!
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Today’sn“birthday bridge” is a fair bit older than that bridge innWashington. As a matter of fact, the construction of it began on thisndate in 1357!
Today’sn“birthday bridge” is a fair bit older than that bridge innWashington. As a matter of fact, the construction of it began on thisndate in 1357!n
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nWhichnmeans that the bridge is even older than me!
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nActually, it means thatnthe bridge is more than 650 years old!
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nNownthat’s an old bridge!
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ThenCharles Bridge crosses the Vltava River in Prague, in the CzechnRepublic. It is 621 meters long and nearly 10 meters wide (more thann2,000 feet long, and almost 33 feet wide). The bridge rests on 16narches and is protected by three bridge towers.
ThenCharles Bridge crosses the Vltava River in Prague, in the CzechnRepublic. It is 621 meters long and nearly 10 meters wide (more thann2,000 feet long, and almost 33 feet wide). The bridge rests on 16narches and is protected by three bridge towers. n
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nThere are 30 statuesndecorating the bridge at spaced intervals.
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nIndon’t want you to think that the bridge has lasted all thesencenturies without any need for repairs! Quite a lot of the problemsnthe bridge has encountered damaged or toppled the statues—thisnhappened, for example, when Swedes battled the locals on the bridge,nduring the Thirty Years’ War. Other problems occurred during hugenfloods, when trees and rafts were swept from upstream into thenbridge’s pillars. The bridge withstood many floods, but part of itncollapsed in 1432 and again in 1890 during particularly disastrousnfloods. Most of the bridge has been reworked and stabilized, andnmissing statues have been replaced with replicas.
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This primer on Prague lists CharlesnBridge as one of the top ten things to do and see in the city.
This primer on Prague lists CharlesnBridge as one of the top ten things to do and see in the city. n
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nBynthe way…
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nTodaynisn’t just the anniversary of the day that construction on the bridgenstarted—it’s the anniversary of King Charles IV himself laying thenfirst stone of the bridge at exactly 5:31 a.m. Why at that very earlynhour, you might ask? Well, Charles IV was superstitious and believednthat numerology could help keep “his” bridge safe. He said thatnthe date and time 1357 9, 7 5:31 built a bridge of numbers to supportnthe actual bridge. Obviously, Charles IV’s “number bridge” startsnwith the year, the the day, month, and time. This creates a sort ofnpalindrome of odd numbers. (A palindrome is something that reads thensame backwards and forwards, such as “A Toyota’s a Toyota,” “Anman, a plan, a canal, Panama!” and “Step on no pets.” In thisncase, it is an arrangement of numbers that reads the same eitherndirection, like 3941493.)
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nAlsonon this date:
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Inventor Elias Howe’s birthday
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nIndependencen Day in Argentina
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nAnniversaryn of the settling of Romanov rumors through DNA testing
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Plannahead:
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nChecknout my Pinterest pages on Julynholidays, historicalnanniversaries in July,nand Julynbirthdays.
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nAndnhere are my Pinterest pages on Augustnholidays, historicalnanniversaries in August,nand Augustnbirthdays.
