8 December 1864: the Clifton Suspension Bridge opens

The Clifton Suspension Bridge, based on Isambard Kingdom Brunel's design, was finally opened on this day in 1864.

Clifton Suspension Bridge 2
(Image credit: Getty Images)

In 1754, William Vick, a Bristol wine merchant, left £1,000 in his will to be invested and, once it had grown to £10,000, to be used to finance the building of a new stone bridge, free of tolls, across the Avon gorge.

By 1829, Vick's fund had only grown to £8,000. That was nowhere near enough for a free stone bridge. So an Act of Parliament was passed which allowed for an iron suspension bridge financed by tolls. And on 1 October, a competition to design the bridge, with a 100 guinea prize, was announced.

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Ben Judge

Ben studied modern languages at London University's Queen Mary College. After dabbling unhappily in local government finance for a while, he went to work for The Scotsman newspaper in Edinburgh. The launch of the paper's website, scotsman.com, in the early years of the dotcom craze, saw Ben move online to manage the Business and Motors channels before becoming deputy editor with responsibility for all aspects of online production for The Scotsman, Scotland on Sunday and the Edinburgh Evening News websites, along with the papers' Edinburgh Festivals website.

Ben joined MoneyWeek as website editor in 2008, just as the Great Financial Crisis was brewing. He has written extensively for the website and magazine, with a particular emphasis on alternative finance and fintech, including blockchain and bitcoin. 

As an early adopter of bitcoin, Ben bought when the price was under $200, but went on to spend it all on foolish fripperies.