Almost 140 years ago, an iconic circus founder helped ease fears about the newly opened Brooklyn Bridge - by marching across with 21 elephants and 17 camels.
Phineas Taylor (PT) Barnum, the inspiration behind hit film The Greatest Showman, first suggested marching his elephants, led by his most famous Jumbo, across the New York bridge just months before it opened in 1883.
Despite offering $5,000 to do so, he was turned down, and fears about the bridge continued from the public. At the time Brooklyn Bridge was the only bridge spanning the East River.
